The World of Unexpected
by wanheda08
Summary: Woah doesn’t begin to describe the rollercoaster the McCord family is about to ride. What will happen when life goes off the rails but in the best possible way? Slightly AU.
1. If It Isn’t One Thing, It’s Another

Chapter 1: If It Isn't One Thing, It's Another

Elizabeth McCord rolled over at the sound of a buzzing phone, coming face to face with an alarm clock that read 4:00. Blindly searching for the offending device, she felt around her cluttered bedside table, praying she could find it before it woke Henry, who had fallen asleep barely two hours before. Between her work negotiating a peace accord between Russia and Ukraine since Maria Ostrova's assassination and his work at the CIA, neither of them had been getting much sleep.

Finally managing to find her phone, she hit the accept button while trying to fit her glasses to her face. "Russell, do you have any idea what time it is?"

On the other end of the line, the president's chief of staff was already yelling, "Please explain to me why Sarnakoff is getting on a plane to go back to Moscow when he and the Ukrainian president are supposed to be signing the peace accord in about 8 hours?!"

"Seeing as to how it's 4:00 in the morning and I've only gotten about three hours of sleep, Russell, I honestly have no idea. Now would you please stop yelling and tell me what the hell is going on?" Elizabeth whispered in reply, trying her best to slip from the room without waking Henry. "And what do you mean that President Sarnakoff is getting on a plane? I spoke with him less than six hours ago and he was pleased with the accord."

Making it down the stairs to the kitchen, holding her phone between her shoulder and chin, she managed to start an extra strong pot of coffee knowing that she was going to need it to make it through the morning. Meanwhile, Russell continued to yell on the other end of the phone about Ukrainian president Bosak insulting Russia and how it was her fault for not heading this disaster off as if she was a mind reader.

"Russell, I will get my team on it as soon as they are awake, and then I will get back to you. Don't worry. I will get to the bottom of this." she replied, promptly hanging up the phone before Russell had the chance to continue yelling at her. She knew she would pay for it later, but her temples were already beginning to throb. There was no way she could withstand a Russell Jackson tongue lashing before she had even half a cup of coffee.

Setting her phone on the counter, she allowed herself to sag against it, already exhausted from about five minutes of consciousness. While her job had many perks, the lack of sleep and constant chaos that surrounded her was not something that she had gotten used to even after almost three years as the Secretary of State. She loved her job and the work that she did. It was truly a calling that she found herself more than willing to answer, to be a part of something that was much bigger than herself, but she often wondered what their lives would be like if she had not accepted Conrad Dalton's offer when the previous secretary had been assassinated.

The coffee was just finishing up when she heard footsteps on the stairs behind her. She knew that the shuffling feet belonged to her mutually sleep deprived husband as a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist.

"Please tell me that you don't have to go save the world before 5 o'clock on a Tuesday morning?" Henry mumbled into Elizabeth's shoulder. "I really want to go back to bed."

"The world is safe for now. You head back to bed though. I have some work to do coming up with inducements to get Russia back to the table for the peace accords. I don't know what is going on but if Russel is reading me the riot act at 4:30 in the morning, none of it can be good." Elizabeth replied as she poured cream in her coffee. "Go get some sleep. I'll wake you up in a couple of hours."

Twisting in her husband's arms, she kissed his cheek, picked up her coffee, and made her way to their study. The wheels in her head were already turning as she thought of anything she could to possibly get Russia back on board with the Ukrainian peace accords. Nothing with this deal had gone as planned, and the effects of all the stressors were wearing her down more than the normal. She chalked it up to the lack of sleep and lack of adequate food intake. While Blake did a very good job of making sure she ate, the amount that was actually eaten was always up in the air, since she barely had the chance to sit in one place for more than five minutes at a time.

Shifting her glasses on her nose, she opened the document that Jay sent her the night before. Jay, being the forward-thinking policy man he was, had already come up with a short list of inducements to bring to the Russian president just in case. Glossing over much of the list, Elizabeth came to the quick decision that there was very little the United States would be able to offer Russia to get this deal signed. She knew that while they didn't have much to offer, Russia couldn't afford to make an enemy of the US in the middle of keeping peace in the Middle East. If she could appeal to Sarnakoff's better angels, maybe she would be able to coax him back to the signing out of the goodness of his heart. If not, nothing short of the threat of all out war would change the mind of the stubborn Russian president.

Two hours and a pot of coffee later, Elizabeth had drafted a short speech that would hopefully save her ass and if not, at least it sounded sincere enough. She picked up her mug and walked back to the kitchen. Rinsing the mug in the sink, she flipped on the tv above microwave. As much as she despised watching the one-sided news on any station, it did make the morning meetings easier when she actually knew what was going on in world relations and politics instead of being ambushed by her team at the elevator.

As the room filled with the annoying voice of the newest meteorologist, Elizabeth made sure to read the scrolling tape at the bottom of the screen, checking for any sign of Sarnakoff's early morning flight from Dulles. The last thing she needed was for that information to hit the news cycle before she had a chance to speak with the man.

"Thank God." she whispered to herself once she was sure there was no trace of the Russian dissent in the morning news cycle. "Now I just have to keep it that way."

Dousing the room in silence once more, Elizabeth made her way back up the kitchen stairs, towards the master bedroom. Henry had left the door cracked, and she could hear him softly snoring. Slowly she padded her way to the bed trying her best not wake him just yet. The man had been working himself to the bone, and she hated to wake him up from the first decent sleep he had gotten in weeks. Instead, she slid back between the covers and snuggled up against Henry's side, breathing in her husband's scent. The warmth of his body enveloped her in a sense of calm as he wrapped his arms around her. Pulling her close, he buried his head into the nook of her shoulder, the stubble on his chin tickling her and making her quietly giggle.

"So did you come up with the Russia inducements?" Henry mumbled, shifting in order to pull his wife on top of him. "Or did you spend the last two hours staring at the computer praying that Sarnakoff gets his head out of his ass?" His hands caressed up and down her back, finally coming to rest at the base of her spine.

Resting her chin on Henry's chest, she looked in looked into his endless ocean blue eyes replying, "I hope that the list Jay and I have put together will work, but as we both know, hope can be a long shot. We've done everything we can do at this point. I have a back-burner ultimatum ready if necessary. Let's pray to God we won't need it though."

She tangled her fingers in the hair at the base of her husband's skull, gazing at a man without whom she would not be the woman she had become. The man who taught her to look past what she could see right in front of her. Who also taught her to listen to the concerns of others in order to better understand them. She could feel his heartbeat beneath her chin and began counting the beats in order to calm herself. It had been coping mechanism she had been using since Henry told her of his first deployment during Desert Storm some twenty-five years ago. His heartbeat reminded her that she was not alone and that his strength was enough for both of them when necessary. She required that calm for the day she knew lay ahead of her. Suddenly an immense wave of nauseous hit her square in the stomach, and she had to crawl over Henry in order to make it to the bathroom before her rebellious stomach emptied itself of its meager contents. As the first wave passed, another wave reached its crest, this time accompanied by dizziness that made the white tile of the bathroom spin around her. More stomach bile than coffee came up the second time as her stomach continued to rebel against her.

Henry, who had bolted straight up as his wife had crawled over him, made his way into the bathroom to find Elizabeth sitting on the floor, her head hanging over the toilet. Bending down, he brushed loose hairs from her damp forehead, grabbed a hair tie from the counter and wrapped it around her hair to keep it from continuing to fall in her face. Rubbing gentle circles on her back, Henry could feel her begin to heeve again and whispered reassuring words in her ear.

"I swear if Noodle's meatless Monday is the reason that I am now puking my toe nails up, she won't be cooking for the family ever again." Elizabeth gasped as she wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. "Can I have some water please? I would get it myself, but I don't trust my knees at the moment."

Henry grabbed one of the glasses beside the sink and filled it halfway. Handing it to his pale and sweaty wife, he sank down to the floor beside her, wrapping an arm around her. "Just sip the water and then we will see if we can get you back in bed. Russia and Ukraine are just going to have to wait a day."

"I may have just thrown up everything I've eaten for the last week, but Russia and Ukraine cannot wait for whatever this is to pass. World politics never takes a sick day which means that neither can the Secretary of State." Elizabeth replied as she sipped from the glass. "As much as I would kill for a sick day, a diplomat's work is never done."

Passing the now empty water glass back to Henry, Elizabeth braced herself on the lid of the toilet to test the strength of her wobbly knees. Once upright, her knees actually held, and she shuffled back into their bedroom to sit on the end of the bed. The last thing that she needed today was the possibility of having to rush out of the room to throw up amidst the presidents of the United States, Russia, and Ukraine. Though they no longer questioned her because of her gender, the foreign presidents would view her as weak if she missed such a big occasion because of a stomach bug.

Her worried husband followed her back to their bed and settled beside her. She leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder, thankful that the nausea had seemed to have subsided for now.

"Babe, you can't go to work like this. You can't run out on the president of two foreign countries to throw up, and then go back in and blame it on something you ate. You know that Conrad will see right through that." Henry, stated matter-of-factly, while rubbing soothing circles on Elizabeth's lower back. "I am sure that Undersecretary Sterling can handle the accord signing so that you can go to James Madison and get checked out."

"Mention going to the hospital one more time and you will be the one who needs a hospital, Henry McCord." the blonde woman snapped back at him. "It's probably just a stomach bug that will pass in a few hours and if not, I will take the day off tomorrow once all the pomp and circumstance is over. Scout's honor."

"Okay okay." Henry said, his hands up in defeat. "But if you start throwing up again, you better have Blake call me and then Undersecretary Sterling so you can go see a doctor."

Nodding, the exhausted Secretary of State heaved herself off the bed and slowly made her way into the closet on the search for her outfit of the day. She knew that she would need to stay away from orange and yellow in order to prevent herself from looking as deathly ill as she felt. Allison had been telling her that she needed to incorporate more blues and greens into her wardrobe, and today seemed to be the day. Pulling pair of her most comfortable black slacks from their hanger, she stood in the middle of her vast array of clothes trying to find the willpower to pick a shirt and continue getting ready. Skimming over the multitude of shirts, she stopped at a deep forest green collared sweater and pulled it from its hanger as well. If she had to go to work under the weather, at least she was going to be comfortable.


	2. Woah Isn’t The Word

Chapter 2: Woah Isn't the Word

As the doors to the seventh floor elevator cracked open, Elizabeth could already see her staff waiting to talk her ears off before she was even in the door. After her early morning wake up call from Russell, she would have bet her last dollar that she was about to be informed of even more bad news.

'Never a slow day at the State Department,' she thought to herself as she stepped off the elevator.

"Good morning, Madam Secretary." Nadine said before Elizabeth even stepped off the elevator.

"Oh goody. Nothing like getting ambushed by your staff before you've even made it into the office. And since you're all here, I already know that this can't be good." the Secretary quipped as she thankfully accepted the outstretched cup of coffee from her overworked and underpaid assistant. "Thank you, Blake. You probably want to keep the pot on. It's going to be a long day."

"We have a problem with the Russia Ukraine deal." Nadine replied. The somber look on her chief of staff's face did nothing for the nausea that had not abated since she had hauled herself off the bathroom floor an hour and a half before. "It appears that President Sarnakoff returned to Russia early this morning due to a dispute with President Bosak. Bosak's staff said that he isn't scheduled to leave until tomorrow morning, so I can get Blake to have Bosak in your office as soon as possible if you would like."

Jay spoke up quickly, "I know that we already started a list of inducements ma'am, and I looked over them again. We don't really have much to offer them at this point, so unless we want all out war in eastern Europe, we have come up with something fast."

"I came up with something at home after Russell Jackson called me at four o'clock in the morning, yelling about nuclear peace and World War III. We can go over it after the morning meeting." Elizabeth answered, finally making her way into her office and all but collapsing on the sofa. "Daisy, if the sharks smell blood in the water, swim away as fast as you can. The last thing we need is for the press to catch wind and blow any chance we have to getting Russia back to the table. Blake, get Bosak in here by 9. If he complains, tell him that the sovereignty of his country is at stake."

"Yes ma'am. I haven't seen anything in the morning news cycle, but by now I'm sure there is a source somewhere that has turned the information over. I will do my best to head off any grumblings I hear." Daisy responded, a look of concentration already taking over. "I assume that since the Russian president is already halfway to Moscow by now, the treaty signing will have to be postponed until we can get this mess cleared up? I only ask because if the news has made it to the press room then I'm going to have a lot of sharks and not enough bait."

"As of right now, the signing is still on. If Jay and I can convince Sarnakoff to return, then we will say something to the effect that he became ill last night so it is postponed until tomorrow. If we can't, then we will cross that bridge when the Russian president burns it down. Push the morning meeting back until 10. I want to meet with Bosak first." Elizabeth replied.

Thankfully the dizziness from earlier had not followed her to work, but her stomach was still grumbling. Taking a sip of the steaming coffee, Elizabeth waited to see if her stomach was going to rebel against her once again. She had thrown up only once while getting ready, and she didn't want to chance another round in the middle of her impending meeting with Bosak. If she could figure out the issue between the two presidents and get Sarnakoff back on plane by dinner, then the signing could be pushed until the next day. That gave her a little over four hours to get Bosak to apologize and agree that peace in eastern Europe was of the utmost importance at the moment.

As she watched her staff began to file out of her office to attend to the task for the day ahead, Elizabeth couldn't help but be thankful for them. They had all been Marsh's picks, but over the last two and a half years, they had become her closest allies. They had stuck with her through the grief of Secretary Marsh's death, the insanity of the American lead Iranian coup, the many hard fought battles behind closed doors that seemed to be endless, and so much more. She often wondered if she could have made it through it all if they had not been right there with her fighting in the trenches, as the old saying goes. She knew one thing for sure, Nadine, Jay, Daisy, Matt, and Blake were definitely part of the McCord family now and they always would be.

Shifting on the sofa to stand, a sudden wave of nausea hit her square in the stomach once again. She shot over to her desk, barely having enough time to grab the trashcan beneath before the small amount of coffee she had consumed made a reappearance. Once the bout seemed to pass, Elizabeth rested her head on the side of her desk. She reached up over the edge of the desk and pulled the phone on top toward her and then down to rest in her lap. Trying to clear her throat which was now sore, she pressed Blake's extension line and waited for him to answer.

"Yes ma'am. Would you like some breakfast from the break room? I don't know if the donuts have been delivered for the morning meeting yet." her assistant asked before she could speak. About the same time every morning, she asked him if breakfast for the morning meeting had arrived since she was usually starving.

"No, but thank you. I need some water and crackers though please." Elizabeth answered feebly, as the dizziness she thought she had left at home found her again. "And Blake, I need you to help me get off the floor."

Two seconds later, Blake came bursting through her office door. The look of surprise on his face would have made her laugh had she not felt like she was going to throw up again. Blake made his way over to her side and placed a gentle hand under her left arm. Slowly, as she tested out her trembling legs, he helped her to her feet and began to slowly shuffle her towards her desk chair, ready to catch her should her legs give out.

Crumpling into her chair, she closed her eyes to concentrate on her breathing. Another wave of nausea was starting to form, and the last thing she wanted or needed right now was to throw up again. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw Blake staring at her with a look of worry on his face.

"Thank you, Blake." she whispered.

"No thanks necessary, ma'am. Would you like for me to call for your motorcade? Pardon me, but you look terrible." he graciously replied, as he stepped over to the side counter that he always kept an emergency stock of water, crackers, and some of the Secretary's favorite treats. He retrieved the water and crackers that Elizabeth had asked for earlier, opened the bottle, and passed both items to her before perching on one of the chairs, awaiting his orders.

"As much as I would love to go back home, we have too much work to do today for me to be sick. Hopefully the crackers will do the trick long enough for me to meet with Bosak. Sarnakoff will be in the air for another five hours at least so I can call him on SVCT at home." Elizabeth croaked. Her voice was starting to give out and her throat had been rubbed raw as pain seared through her every time she swallowed. "As soon as I can work something out with Bosak, I will go home. I promise."

"Yes ma'am. Just let me know if you need anything. You are looking green around the gills." Blake responded as he rose from his chair, making his way towards the door.

Pulling her date planner from her bag, she flipped it open to see if she could fit an appointment at James Madison in her schedule. She remembered that she had not yet placed a small red mark on the calendar this month, but she chalked it up to all the stress she had been under lately. Turning back a page, she realized that she hadn't put a mark on the calendar last month either. Turning one more page, she began to count just how many weeks had passed since her last cycle.

'Seven,' she counted to herself. "Oh crap." she said, this time out loud. It all began to make sense. The throwing up this morning, the more than typical hunger, it all fell into place. Her head started spinning again, this time from shell shock more than dizziness. Grabbing the phone once more, she dialed the number to her house, praying that Henry was still at home.

Before he could even say hello, Elizabeth cut him off, "Thank God you're still at home. I'm going to be heading home in about ten minutes. While I'm on my way, I need you to go to the pharmacy and pick something up."

"Okay. Are you still throwing up? I can get your some ginger ale and soup." replied Henry, as he headed upstairs to change out of his pajamas.

"Oh yeah. I've thrown up a couple more times, and if I'm right, I'll be throwing up for about seven more months. Go to the CVS on 19th and buy a few pregnancy tests. That should be far enough away from the house that no one will put two and two together." Elizabeth answered. "I have to go. I need to ask Blake to have my motorcade brought around. I'll see you in thirty. Iloveyoubye."

Hanging up before Henry could even respond to the bombshell she had just dropped, Elizabeth hit the button for Blake's line. Waiting a split second, she began spouting out requests. "I need you to call up my motorcade. I need to go back home for a little while. Also, has the meeting with Bosak been scheduled? If so, push it back thirty minutes. Since this whole mess is apparently his fault, he can be made to squirm for a little while longer."

Blake took the opportunity to speak while he had one, "Bosak's office has not yet returned my call, but I will get on it as soon as I can. I will have your motorcade outside in five. And ma'am, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Blake. I promise. Thank you for asking. I just need to go home to get something. Henry just happens to still be at home to get it ready for me." she responded, grateful for the concern that she could hear in her assistant's voice. "I will be back in the office as soon as I can. If anyone asks why I had to go home, just tell them I forgot some paperwork about the accord that was necessary for my meeting with Bosak."

"Yes ma'am. I can handle that." Blake said. "Your motorcade will be waiting for you by the time you get downstairs."

"Thank you, Blake." Elizabeth repeated. Hanging up the phone, she gathered her bags once again and made her way to the door. She knew that she wouldn't have to ask Blake to have the trash can clean by the time she got back.

Passing Blake at his desk, she made her way back to the elevator, praying that she wouldn't meet any other members of her staff. Safely making it in the elevator, she leaned against the wall. The day's stress was catching up with her, and it wasn't even noon yet. As the elevator doors peeled open, just as Blake had told her, she could see Frank waiting outside her car, door already open.

The ride home seemed to last for what felt like a lifetime. Finally arriving at their door, she made her way inside, shedding her bags, coat, and shoes right inside.

"Henry?" she called, unsure of where he would be waiting for her.

"Up here, honey. I just got back from CVS." he called from what sounded like their room.

Making her way up the stairs, she glanced in Allison and Jason's rooms to make sure that they had in fact gone to school. Stevie's room was empty as well as she went by. It would be easier to find out what was going on if it was just her and Henry right now.

"So...are you sure about this?" Henry asked, as he appeared in their bedroom doorway. "Maybe it really was just something that you ate."

"I'm pretty sure. Not sure how…" she began but was cut short when she saw her husband's eyebrows shoot up in amusement. "I know how it happened, dummy. Believe me. I just don't know HOW it happened, if you catch my drift. I was looking at my planner at the office and I realize that I've missed two periods. Even when I was working for The Company in country, I never missed one. I might have been late a couple of days, but never just skipped one."

Elizabeth continued to walk into their room, passing Henry to go straight into the bathroom. She felt bile creeping up her throat as her nerves began to get the better of her. This was an enormous deal, and she wasn't sure how any of them were going to handle it. For the second time that morning, she felt Henry's strong arms wrap around her waist, holding her in his protective embrace. She could feel his heartbeat, pounding out a slow and steady rhythm against her back. Closing her eyes, she took a few seconds to soak in the peace that emanated off of her husband.

Slowly opening her eyes, they landed on the red and white CVS bag laying on the bathroom counter. She moved from Henry's embrace to grab the bag and shake the contents out. Four tests in their purple packaging fell out. The sight of the caused the breath the catch in Elizabeth's throat; she couldn't believe she was about to take them. Picking them up one by one, she opened them and set them at the end of the counter so that she could easily reach them from the toilet.

"You would think that they could come up with a better to test for pregnancy other than peeing on a stick." she said as she grabbed the first one, a note of contempt in her voice.

Washing her hands after finishing with the tests, she set the timer on her phone for two and a half minutes and then took a seat on the edge of the bathtub next to Henry. Through this whole process, he had remained silent. Waiting and patience were his gift. Something that she usually envied him about, but today, she could wait forever on this outcome. Suddenly the alarm on her phone began to beep, startling her so badly that she almost fell backwards into the tub.

"Here goes nothing." she said, standing up to retrieve the tests.

Looking down at the four tests, tears began to fill her eyes before she could stop them. Spinning around the face her husband, she couldn't contain the look of shock of her face. All four of the tests were clearly positive with the word pregnant on each one. Tears that had been threatening to fall were now pouring down her face. Her heart was racing, while conflicting feelings of joy and terror coursed through her mind.

Taking two large steps, Henry once again wrapped her in a warm embrace, kissing the top of her head. He slowly rubbed circles across her back, her shoulders shaking from the sobs into his chest, as she allowed all of her emotions to get the better of her.

After a few minutes, her sobbing calmed into small hiccups, and she pulled from his arms, wiping her eyes. She glanced apologetically at the wet makeup stains on his shirt before she looked up into his eyes. To her surprise, all she saw there was excitement and joy. She couldn't find a trace of doubt or fear, only happiness and love were staring back at her.

"So we're going to have a baby." Henry whispered, the slightest smile crossing his lips. The warmth in his voice instantly melted the ice cube of fear that had been in the pit of her stomach.

"Yeah...I guess we are." Elizabeth murmured in reply, finally allowing a smile to cross her lips. She continued as she began to make her way into their bedroom. "I feel like my heart is about to beat out of my chest."

"Me too. Talk about the shock of a lifetime." he chuckled in response, following along behind his wife. "Never thought we would have to think about diaper duty and midnight feedings again unless they were for grandkids."

She took a seat on the chaise in the corner, leaning back soaking in the news. While she was scared out of her wits at the thought of having another baby, she couldn't help but feel excited as well.


	3. Reality Sets In

Chapter 3: Reality Sets In

Having arrived back at her office a half hour before, still reeling from the discovery that she was pregnant, Elizabeth was scrambling to finish her preparations for her meeting with President Bosak. "Blake! Blake, come in here, please!" she called from her desk.

"Yes ma'am?" Blake asks as he enters the room. "Did I forget some to include something in your binder?"

"Not at all, Blake. I need you to schedule a doctor's appointment for me. Sooner rather than later, please." she replied, turning the page in front of her without looking up.

Blake just stared at the Secretary for a second before he cleared his throat to ask, "Ma'am, are you alright? Is this because you threw up earlier? Do you need me to cancel the meeting? I'm sure Bosak will understand."

"Blake, you're babbling." Elizabeth snorted.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't mean to pry; it's just you know how I worry. It's one of my many character flaws." the man responded, looking down at his feet.

"I'm fine, Blake. Nothing that won't go away in a few months." she joked in reply. She couldn't help but laugh aloud when she glanced up to see her assistant's jaw drop as the realization of her words hit him.

Sputtering while trying to pick his jaw up off the proverbial floor, an enormous smile spread across her assistant's face. "Congratulations ma'am, but if you don't mind my asking, was this a planned pregnancy?"

Snorting once again, Elizabeth answered, "Heck no! Henry and I thought that our days of pediatrician appointments and multiple loads of laundry, and then nights of sleep deprivation and midnight feedings were long over. We were just as surprised as that look on your face just now."

She couldn't help but laugh, not only at Blake's expression but the hilarity of it all. She was forty six years old for goodness sake. Most women her age were getting ready to marry their older children off while starting their younger children in college, and here she was getting ready to start it all over again. The very thought an hour and a half ago had threatened to send her spiraling into a panic attack. And it almost had until Henry reminded her that she wasn't going to be doing all this alone. He tenderly reminded her that he would be by her side every step of the way just as he had with their other three children. Knowing that they would get through it all together made everything seem, maybe not okay just yet, at least manageable.

"If you could find some time in my schedule in the next few days for me to see Dr. Miller, that would be great Blake. I want to make sure that everything is okay and happening like it should." Elizabeth explained, looking up at Blake, who just happened to be grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "Also while I know everyone here is going to be over the moon because a new baby around this place proves that the world isn't completely going to hell, Henry and I both want to keep the news to ourselves until after I'm out of my first trimester. Just to be on the safe side."

She watched as Blake's excitement deflated upon hearing her request for secrecy. She could understand his sadness, for she too wanted to share this news with her team as well as the rest of her family, but she and Henry had both agreed that waiting was the best option. They didn't want to get the kids' hopes up about a new sibling only to have to break their hearts should something happen with Elizabeth's pregnancy.

"I'm sorry, Blake. I know you want to share this news almost as badly as I do. We could all do with a little cheering up around here, and I promise as soon as we tell the kids, I will let you have the honor of telling the rest of the State Department staff." Elizabeth suggested, knowing this would perk her gloomy assistant right back up.

"Thank you, ma'am! It would be an honor. I understand about the secrecy though. My cousin did the same thing when she found out she was pregnant." Blake remarked as he made his way to the door. "I will make that appointment for as soon as Dr. Miller can see you. Congratulations again, ma'am. I'm so happy for you."

Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief as she turned her attention back to the documents in front of her. Try as she might, she was unable to focus on the pressing matters at hand. She placed a hand on her lower abdomen and truly allowed herself to take in the reality that there was a fourth McCord child growing inside of her. There was no evidence of a bump yet but she surprisingly was already longing for the day when she would be able to feel the child grow and move beneath her hand.

"Hi there, little one. I know you can't actually hear me yet, but I know that you can feel my heartbeat. I want you to know something, sweet one. As long as my heart is beating and there is breath in my body, I make you the promise that I made to each of your siblings. I will do everything in my power to protect you, provide for you, and keep you whole no matter what may come." she said as she ran her thumb just under her belly button. "I already love you with everything fiber of my being. You are precious gift to your daddy and me and nothing will ever change that."

There was a soft knock on her office door. Elizabeth looked up to find her husband standing in the doorway with his signature goofy smile on his. He quietly closed the door behind him and swiftly walked across the floor. Coming to a stop beside her chair, he took the hand that she had resting on her abdomen and pulled her to her feet.

"What are you doing here?" Elizabeth asked, as Henry tangled his fingers in her blonde locks. "I thought that you would have gone back to work by now."

Henry quickly and generously kissed her lips before he replied, "I called ahead to ask Blake if you had a free minute in your schedule to see me. I wanted to check in and see how you were doing. We've had quite a shock this morning and I wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"You mean you wanted to make sure that I wasn't an anxiety ridden mess since I can't take my meds because of the baby?" she muttered, pulling herself from her husband's embrace. She turned back towards her desk, bracing her hands on the edge for support as she continued, "Though this baby is a bit of a shock, I am quite happy and excited about her. I think I can handle the stress of planning for a new baby, Henry." She couldn't believe that Henry had so little faith in her abilities to cope with this new stress. She has come so far in dealing with her PTSD since Iran and here he was acting like she was on the verge of having a panic attack any second.

The annoyance in her voice caused Henry's shoulders to slump. "I didn't mean you couldn't handle it, baby. I just know that you have so much on your plate right now and I wanted to make sure that you weren't over doing it already. I know you, Elizabeth. You don't slow down until you're made to."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped. I just hate thinking that you feel like I'm helpless because I'm pregnant." Elizabeth apologized. "I don't want to have to give up my job just because I'm going to have a baby and I don't want men to start thinking I'm helpless either."

Just as Henry was about to reply, the phone beeped through on Blake's line. "Madam Secretary, President Bosak's office finally called back. He will be here at one. That is the earliest I could harass his chief of staff into giving me. If you ask me, the man is guilty of something and he doesn't want to be scolded if he can help it. Also, I called Dr. Miller's office and they can see you in thirty minutes if you want to take the time to go now."

"Thank you, Blake. I will go ahead and take that appointment. Will you have the motorcade waiting for us downstairs? Since Henry is already here, he will be riding with me." Elizabeth replied before disconnecting the line.

As she turned back towards Henry, her eyes immediately locked with his. By the look on his face, she could tell that he was just as surprised as she was about their appointment. The reality of this unexpected pregnancy was now hitting both of them full force at the prospect of seeing their unborn child in about forty five minutes. Elizabeth forced herself out of her surprised induced stupor and made her way across her office. Opening the door to the small closet where she kept her coat and purse, she grabbed both and began pulling her coat over her arms.

"Henry." she called back to her husband. She twisted her head just enough to see that Henry seemed to be rooted to the floor next to her desk. She walked back over to him and gently laid her hand on his cheek. The sudden contact startled him out of his daze. "There you are. We have to go if we are going to make it to Dr. Miller's office on time."

Henry, shaking away the remnants of his daydream, took Elizabeth's outstretched hand, followed his wife across the floor and through the door. They made their way to the elevator, and once inside he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back flush with his chest, breathing in the scent of her perfume. "I'm just in shock that we are about to see our baby."

Elizabeth chuckled in her throat, "I am too, baby. Believe me. I never thought we would back here again, but now that we are, I am so excited to see what grand adventure the McCords, family of six, are in store for." She kissed his temple just as the elevator doors opened. Once again, she could see Frank outside the doors, waiting for them with the door already open.


	4. Miracles Really Do Happen

Chapter 4 : Miracles Really Do Happen

It was an uneventful ride to James Madison, and now they were waiting in an exam room for Dr. Miller to arrive.

"I hate these stupid paper gowns they always make you wear." Elizabeth grumbled to Henry, as she fidgeted with said gown trying to close the back as much as possible without falling off the exam table. "You would think that there would be something better than this in the 21st century. But no. We are still stuck with paper gowns that have no way of closing in the back."

Henry could do nothing but smirk as he listened to his wife complain about the paper gowns that as of this moment he held a very high opinion of. That high opinion might have come from the fact that the gown gave him a great view of Elizabeth's ass, but he was definitely not going to tell his pregnant, hormonal wife anything about that.

"Henry McCord, you better wipe that smirk off your face right now if you want to have sex again in the next month. There is nothing funny about my uncomfortableness." demanded the hormonal, pregnant woman.

A solemn look quickly fell over his face as Henry heard Elizabeth's threat. She had only made a threat like that once before in their marriage and she made good on that threat then so he had no doubt that she would be willing to make good on that threat now.

Just as he was about to reply, there was a soft knock on the door before it quickly opened, and Dr. Miller came into the room. "Good morning, McCords!" she greeted. "I hear that congratulations are in order. Your bloodwork came back and it confirms that you are pregnant, Elizabeth!"

A sigh of relief escaped Elizabeth's mouth and she realized then that she had been holding her breath, waiting to find out if the tests she had taken were true. She reached for Henry's hand and intertwined their fingers. "So Doc, is it too early for an ultrasound? I know that we found out when I was farther along with our other kids, but I was still hoping we might get to see the baby today?"

Dr. Miller looked up from Elizabeth's chart, and smiled. "Of course we can try an ultrasound today. We can try to determine a date of conception and an initial guess for a due date. Because it appears to be early in your pregnancy, we may not be able to hear a heartbeat, but that won't be cause for alarm. Go ahead and lay back. Let's see this baby."

As she finished her last statement, the doctor pulled a cart towards the exam table where Elizabeth was laying. She shifted her cursed paper gown and prepared herself for the chill she knew would be coming from the gel as Dr. Miller spread a layer across her lower abdomen. Picking up the ultrasound wand, she then began maneuvering it and looking at the scene. Suddenly, a steady lub-dub filled the room as a tiny lima bean shaped blob came into view on the monitor.

Elizabeth gasped as her gaze shot to look at her husband. "That's our baby!" Tears of joy were pouring down her face at this point, but she did nothing to try and stop them. She thought the amount of happiness she was now feeling would cause her heart to explode.

The heartbeat continued as Dr. Miller began speaking. "This little one has a very strong heartbeat and seems to be a little further along that we thought. By the size of the baby right now, I would say you're about ten weeks along which would put your due date sometime right before Christmas." She pushed a few buttons on the panel in front of her, and then turned to Elizabeth again. "I'll have a nurse print a copy of the ultrasound out so you guys can take a picture of your baby home. I'm also going to write you a prescription for prenatal vitamins. Since this isn't your first rodeo, I won't give you the speech about how important it is for you to take them everyday. But I will say that I know you have a high stress job being the Secretary of State. You are going to have to take it easy the farther into your pregnancy you get. This baby is a miracle because most women after forty only have a five percent chance of conceiving on their own."

Elizabeth looked back at the doctor with a serious look on her face. "I promise, Dr. Miller. I am going to do everything I can to make sure that this baby is well taken care of until she's ready to be born."

"And I will make sure she does too!" Henry said, looking down at his wife. "This baby is already so loved. We will both do whatever needs to be done to make sure that they both stay healthy."

"Alright guys, you're all good to go. You can get dressed, Elizabeth, and the nurse will have everything ready for you when you leave." Dr. Miller said as she opened the door. "Congratulations again, you two. You two are amazing parents and that is one very lucky baby."


	5. Before the Firing Squad

Chapter 5 : Before the Firing Squad

The next few weeks passed fairly uneventfully. The State Department managed to avert a world crisis and treaty peace between Russia and Ukraine. Elizabeth's morning sickness worsened and it was beginning to become difficult to continue pulling the wool over her staff's eyes as well as their children. Nadine has walked in her office a couple times already to find Elizabeth with her head between her needs, trying to prevent her stomach rebelling against her. And Stevie almost discovered the sonogram printouts that Elizabeth had chosen to keep in her bedside table. Thankfully, Henry had been able to to catch Stevie before she opened the drawer.

With Elizabeth safely in her second trimester and everything running smoothly, they had decided the night before that today would be the day that they would tell their older children of the new baby. They both knew that she would not be able to hide her bump for much longer, or make excuses to her staff. Plus, the sooner they were able to tell Conrad the better.

Putting the finishing touches on dinner, Henry brought the bowl of spaghetti over to the table. As he sat it down, he announced, "Kids, your mom and I have some news we want to share with you."

"Mom finally found the solution for world peace, so she's out of a job?" Jason asked cynically from his place at the table?

"Really? Do you even think world peace is possible, doofus? If it were possible, then Mom wouldn't have ever been Secretary of State because someone would have done it centuries ago." Allison retorted back at him, falling into their usual quippy dinnertime banter. "Sometimes, I honestly wonder if there really is a brain between your big ears."

While listening to the two teens debate the finer points of world peace, Elizabeth caught her husband's eye from across the room and picked up the wrapped box sitting on the end of the island. Making her way across the kitchen, she sat the box down in front of their oldest daughter, Stevie, motioning for her to open it. Her nerves were starting to get the better of her. She just prayed she could keep the nausea in check for a little while longer.

"Mom. It has all of our names on it. Why am I opening it?" Stevie asked, looking back over her shoulder with a questioning glance.

"Because I think you should be the one to open it. Just do this for me please." Elizabeth replied. There was a note of exhaustion and desperation in her voice that only Henry and Stevie were able to pick up on.

"Okay. Okay." the twenty one year old relented as she began peeling the paper back.

Under the paper was a plain white box with the words "I love you" written on the top. Stevie popped the tape holding the sides together and slipped the top off. Inside, nestled in pink and blue tissue paper, was a plain white frame with what appeared to be a fuzzy black and white picture in it.

Before Stevie could say a word, Jason yanked the frame out of the box and began examining the picture, having no real idea of what he was looking at. Allison peered over his shoulder, examining the picture for herself. A breath caught in her throat as she glanced down at Stevie, then at Jason, and then whipped around to face her parents.

"YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY?!?!" she shrieked, an enormous smile plastered across her face. The slim sixteen year old could barely contain her excitement, while the other McCords winced from the ear splitting shrill.

"Yes, Noodle. We are having a baby. You will have a little brother or sister in about six months or so." Elizabeth replied, taking two short steps and wrapping her arms around her middle child and kissing the side of her head. "I take it this makes you happy, then?"

"Are you kidding? I'll be able to dress her up and teach her about fashion and makeup. I can take her to mall and show her how to accessorize and walk in heels…" Allison spouted off, barely taking breaths between sentences.

"Slow down, Noodle. First of all, we don't know if it's a girl or a boy yet. Secondly, the baby won't be doing much for the first few months of its life but eating, sleeping, and crying." Henry said, coming to stand behind Jason, who was still staring intently at the picture. "What do you think, Jase? You ready to be a big brother?"

Jason, deep in thought, didn't answer immediately. Instead he walked into the den, picture still in hand, and sank down on the couch. Henry glanced back at his wife, still wrapped around their younger daughter, and gave her a reassuring smile. Jason was going to need time to adjust to no longer being the baby in the family.

Turning to face their older daughter, Henry and Elizabeth waited patiently for Stevie to form thoughts into sentences.

"I...I don't know what to say. Did you plan on getting pregnant?" Stevie asked, turning in her chair to face them. "Well I mean of course you didn't. Who plans to get pregnant when they are the Secretary of State and their husband works for some secret spy organization? That would make no sense." Looking at her parents surprised expression, Stevie continued, "Come on you two, neither of you hide secrets from us very well and you don't talk about work around the house anymore which means that you are both working on classified information that the other can't know about. I honestly don't know how you managed to work for the CIA for twenty years, Mom."

Shocked but proud of their daughter's analysis of their behavior, Elizabeth rested her hand on Stevie's shoulder and shook her head, chuckling. "Please tell me again why you don't want to go to work for The Company? You read people better than I ever could and your behavioral analysis skills are already off the chart."

She was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. Though Jason had not given them much of a reaction yet, the girls' reaction had been her biggest worry. She knew that both of them had felt taken for granted and left out quite a bit since she had accepted the M-Sec post. The last thing she wanted to do was ostracized them even more by bringing a new baby into the mix.

"Because if I did that, then that would just be more secrets we would all have to keep from each other. I think the McCord family has enough secrets to go around, Mom." Stevie replied, patting the hand that was on her shoulder. "As for my feelings about the baby, I'm happy for you guys. You're practically glowing and I don't think a chisel could get that dopey grin off Dad's face."

"I do not have a dopey smile." said Henry, who tried to frown but couldn't help but laugh as all three of the women in his life looked at him as if he had three heads. "Well, I don't. I'm just excited that we have another new life to bring into the world."

"And to answer your previous question Stevie, no we did not plan on getting pregnant. There was about a five percent chance that I could conceive another baby, so it looks like this little one is something of miracle." Elizabeth replied, smiling down at her oldest child, while placing her hand over her slightly rounded stomach.

In that moment, it dawned on her that the child holding her gaze was the one who had first made her a mother and had held her heart the longest. The child who taught her the real meaning of strength and patience along with many lessons on just how to use both of those skills. Stevie was just as much a surprise as this baby. She and Henry were fresh out of college, just beginning their lives together when he deployed. Then soon after his homecoming, they discovered she was pregnant with Stevie. As she watched her daughters, Elizabeth pondered all these things, as they leaned into each other murmuring with excitement at the prospect of having a little sister. The pair had grown close over the last year or so, and she prayed that their bond would remain steadfast well through their adult years.

Having been distracted by her conversation with Stevie and her ponderings about her children, Elizabeth glanced over at her baby boy sitting on the couch alone. She slowly walked towards him and waited to see if he would react before sitting down on the couch beside him. Wrapping an arm around the boy's slim shoulders, she pulled him into her side and kissed his cheek.

She whispered in his ear "Tell me what's going on in that head of your's, Jase. I know it's a lot to process. I promise Dad and I won't be mad if you need time to think. I just need to know that you're okay right this minute."

She released him, allowing him room to sit back up. Instead, he melted into her side, one hand entangling itself in hers, as the other held onto the picture frame as though it were a life raft and he had been set adrift at sea. Elizabeth had to sit back on the couch to accommodate for the fourteen year old's size. She replaced her arm around his shoulders and waited patiently for him to say something as the rest of the family silently watched from their places at the table.

"I don't know how to feel, Mama. I never thought that I would be a big brother. I just don't know." Jason said, sniffling. "What am I supposed to feel?"

Elizabeth's heart was breaking as she watched her son struggled to work through his emotions. He hadn't called her mama in years, so she knew this particular occasion was something serious. Jason had never been one to show his pain but this was obviously affecting him in a way no one could have predicted.

"Well bud, when your grandparents told me about your Uncle Will, I was not happy. I was Daddy's little girl and I knew a yucky little brother was going to mess all of that up. My father sat me down and told me something that I will never forget, although your Uncle Will wishes I would. He told me that it was my job to protect my little brother. I was the person that he would come to if he needed help and he didn't want to tell our parents. I was the one who would be there to defend him if people picked on him at school. I was his big sister and it was my job to love him no matter what." she murmured to him, as she rocked back and forth, her arms still wrapped around him. Jason was still contently staring at the sonogram, so she continued, "I'm not saying that having a little brother or sister will be easy. Just ask Stevie. I know there are days when she wants to strangle you guys, but she's a great big sister, who does her best to help take care of you. And even if you don't know how to feel at this moment, you have plenty of time to figure it out, Jase. There are two things do that I know right now: this baby will love you no matter what because you are his or her big brother and you are going to be an amazing big brother."

She continued to rock the boy of fourteen until he shifted, looking up at her with a tear streaked face. "You really think so? I know I can be really selfish sometimes, and I don't always make things easy on you and Dad. I don't know if I'm strong enough to do all those things you did for Uncle Will."

"Oh I know you're strong enough, bud." she replied with a chuckle. "You stood up for me when that boy at school was posting those horrible things online about me. You stood up for your sister when that boy was spreading rumors that she was easy. You take a stand everyday for your beliefs. All those things take courage and strength. I know that you are strong enough to be an amazing big brother and if you need a little help, you have me and your dad and Stevie and Allison."

Jason, with unshed tears in his eyes, looked at Elizabeth and softly replied, "I know I don't say this enough, but I love you, Mom. You are the strongest person I know. And I promise I will do my best to be a big brother to this baby, but it might take me some time to get used to the idea. Is that okay?"

"That's okay, Jase. I know it's going to take time for all of us to adjust to the new normal, especially once the baby gets here, so there is no rush. And if you want to talk, your mom and I are always here." Henry said from the table.

Glancing back down at the frame now resting in his lap, he laughed, "Whether it's a girl or a boy, right now it just kinda looks like a lima bean."

"Believe me, it won't stay that way for long." Elizabeth chuckled. "You looked just like that when I had my first sonogram of you, and now look at you."

"Well now that the cat's out of the bag, let's eat. While I like cold spaghetti, I usually like it at two in the morning." Henry interjected before his wife and children could find another topic of baby related conversation. At that very moment, his stomach growled so loudly that it could be heard across the room.

Everyone burst into laughter as Elizabeth and Jason made their way to the table. The McCords knew that their patriarch had a bad habit of sneaking downstairs for a midnight snack and could imagine him with a bowl of leftovers, chowing down while they were all still fast asleep.


	6. Anything but Normal

Chapter 6 : Anything But Normal

Now that the kids knew about the baby, Elizabeth decided that it was time to clue her staff in on her secret. While Blake had been "read in" two months ago, Nadine, Jay, Matt, and Daisy were still in the dark, a situation that she hoped to remedy as soon as possible. Though she was only a little over thirteen weeks along and what they were calling a "baby bump" was well hidden beneath her jackets and shirts, she knew that soon there would be no hiding it from her crack team. There had already been a few close calls with Nadine due to her morning sickness. On more than one occasion, Nadine had entered the Secretary's office to find her green around the gills, emerging from her bathroom with a weak smile plastered on her face. She had not yet been questioned by her chief of staff, but Elizabeth knew that it was only a matter of time before Nadine starting asking questions.

The only problem lie in the fact that she had not yet told Conrad; the prospect of telling the President, who happened to be one of her oldest friends, that his Secretary of State was with child made her Iranian peacekeeping agenda seem like a simple game of checkers. Henry had attempted numerous times to convince her that Conrad was going to be happy for her, but his attempts were in vain. Elizabeth was convinced of only the worst: that Conrad was going to fire her on the spot.

"But he didn't fire you when you were pregnant with Allison or Jase and worked for him at the CIA. You may have been a desk analyst, but he still sent you out into the field on occasion. What makes you think that it will be any different now?" Henry gentle asked, once again trying to convince his hormonal wife that she was still going to have a job after her early meeting with the President.

Flying from the bathroom, hair wrapped in a towel and toothbrush in hand, Elizabeth retorted, "It's different because I wasn't in charge of the country's entire plan for diplomacy back then. It's different because if I screw up now, everyone will say that it's because I had a baby and can't handle my job. I am the most famous political figure in Washington right now, second only to Conrad himself. I somehow don't think that it will bode well on his polling numbers if his Secretary of State upchucks on the ambassador of Chile or the President of Nepal at our next state dinner!"

Thankfully the toothbrush Elizabeth had been swinging around during her tyrad did not have toothpaste on it yet, so while she took a temporary pause, Henry saw his opportunity to wrap his arms around his wife's slight baby bump and pull her back against his chest. He planted a kiss on the side of her head, as he sat down on the end of the bed with her in his lap, whispering in her ear, "If he fires you, for any reason, I think that his polling numbers will go down regardless. The people love you, and I think that they will love seeing a mother in a position of power be just that: a mother. There aren't a lot of women who could manage to do everything that you do and still make time to spend with their families."

Elizabeth sank back into the warmth of her husband's embrace. She knew that he was right, but a nagging voice in her head kept egging on her doubt. This job meant more to her than she ever thought it would. She was finally affecting real change in the world, and though she wasn't power hungry, she wasn't ready to give that power up yet either. If Conrad fired her, that would be yet another major change she would cause her family in the last two and a half years. She wasn't sure if the kids could handle having their lives be turned into a fruit basket turnover on top of adding another sibling into the mix.

"Lou Holtz said 'I follow three rules: Do the right thing, do the best you can, and always show people you care.' You do all of those things everyday in your job and with our family. I believe that everything will work out as God has willed it, and as you know, I am a betting man so I bet that you are worrying yourself about nothing." Henry softly murmured in Elizabeth's ear as his hands covered the small swell of her belly.

He slipped his thumb under the hem of her tank top, resting it just above her hip bone. Running it along the sensitive skin just above her pajama bottoms, he kissed a well known spot behind her ear, a spot he knew would take her mind off of her worries almost immediately.

Humming with contentedness at the close contact with her husband, Elizabeth mumbled, "You are incorrigible, Henry McCord. I have too much to do before my meeting with Conrad, so I don't need you distracting me right now."

"But I was planning on going back to bed," Henry whispered in her ear as he continued to rub his thumb along her tender skin, "and the bed will be so cold if I am there all alone."

Shivering at the heat of his breath on her neck, Elizabeth managed to extract herself from his embrace before he could convince her to in fact go back to bed. She slowly walked back towards the bathroom, pulling the towel from her hair as she went. At the door, she turned smiling at the man she lovingly called husband and murmured, "You'll be plenty warm by yourself. And I promise, I'll make it worth your while tonight when I get home."

As she continued into the bathroom, she could hear Henry groan and flop backwards on the bed, exasperated that she wouldn't come back to bed with him. There was nothing more that Elizabeth wanted to do than go back to bed with him, but she had her meeting with Conrad at 9:30 and that took priority at the moment.

Thirty minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom once more, fully clothed and almost mentally prepared to face the day before her. Henry had gone downstairs to cook breakfast while she finished getting ready; she could smell bacon wafting up the backstairs as she slipped her feet into her heels. So far with this pregnancy, morning sickness appeared to be the only ill symptom, thankfully. With Allison and Jason by this point, her feet were swollen like sausages and she could wear nothing but flats. And while her "morning" sickness was often not restricted to just the morning hours, her clothes were starting to grow tight around her waist.

Making her way downstairs, she found all three of her older children actually seated at the breakfast table. Passing her, Henry gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before he made his way to the table carrying a platter of bacon in one hand and a dish full of scrambled eggs in the other. Elizabeth turned towards the refrigerator, opening it and pulling out the orange juice and strawberry jam.

Jason looked up from the plate and textbook in front of him and seeing his mother spoke up, "Good morning, Mom. How's Bean this morning? She make you puke your guts up again?" If anyone noticed Jason refer to the baby as a she, no one mentioned it. Everyone had taken to calling the baby "Bean" since reveal night when Jason made the comparison, and it seemed that it was going to be a nickname that stuck.

"Really, Jase? Do you have to talk about puking at the breakfast table?" Allison questioned, as she spread butter on her toast. Accepting the jam from her mother, she went on, "You know that Bean makes Mom sick every morning. I don't know why you keep asking."

"Alright you two. It's too early for you to start this morning." Henry chuckled, as he scooped eggs onto Elizabeth's plate. "Let your mother eat in peace. She has her meeting with President Dalton in a little bit."

Upon hearing the president's name, Stevie looked over at her mother and murmured so only her mother could hear her, "Mom, you know Conrad loves you. He will be happy for you. Stop thinking the worst of him. You know how he likes to surprise you."

Elizabeth looked up from her eggs with a face of surprise at her elder daughter. "You sound just like your father. Apparently you two have been exchanging notes lately." There was a bite to her words that she didn't mean to let through. "And I'm not exactly worried that he won't be happy for me. I'm worried that he won't want his Secretary of State having a baby while in office."

"Mom, we all know that President Dalton loves you almost as much as he loves his wife. You're basically his best friend and have been for like twenty five years. He was happy for you when you had us, so I'm sure he will be just as happy about Bean." Allison said, as she carried her plate to the sink to rinse.

Before Elizabeth could quip back, she heard the buzzing sound coming from her cell phone that she had left on the island in the kitchen. Rising to retrieve it, she looked at Henry who had a look of pure amusement on his face.

"Oh shut up, Mr. Smarty Pants." she hissed between her teeth, trying not to let him see the equal amount amusement on her face. Her family somehow always had a way of knowing just what she needed to hear. The four of them helped to calm her fears and set her mind at ease. As she picked up her phone from its resting place on the island, she could already see multiple texts from Russell demanding her much needed presence at the White House. There was also a text from Blake, reminding her of her meeting with the President as well as the lunch meeting she had scheduled with her staff. Quickly turning, she almost ran into Henry, who had gotten up while she dealt with her texts.

"Gotta go in already?" he asked, slipping past her in order to rinse his plate in the sink.

"Yeah. Apparently, Russell wants to talk to me before my meeting with Conrad. Not sure what about though. Definitely going to try and miss him so I can speak with the President first." she answered, her hand subconsciously coming to rest on her "bump" as she walked across the room in order to put on her coat and grab her bag. "I will call you when I finish with Conrad and let you know how it goes."

"Alright, baby. I'll have my ringer on." Henry murmured as he slipped his arms around his wife, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I love you. Everything is going to be okay."

"I love you too." she returned. "I'll try to remember that. Bye, guys! I'll see you for dinner tonight." She called around Henry as she waved to her children.


	7. Irrationality at Its Best

Since I made everyone wait so long for chapter 6, I decided to go ahead and finish/post chapter 7. I have been extremely busy with coaching and teaching so writing has sort of taken a backseat. Hopefully I will be able to write more once football season is over. Hope you all are still enjoying the story!

Chapter 7: Irrationality at Its Best

Stepping out of their Georgetown brownstone, she saw Frank already waiting with her door open. She honestly didn't know how she would survive, literally or figuratively, were it not for his ever present shadow following her.

"Good morning, Madam Secretary." the waiting man greeted, holding out a hand to help Elizabeth into the backseat. "How are you this morning?"

"I'm a little nauseous this morning, Frank, so if we could take it easy on the bumps, that would be great." she replied. Then muttering to herself as she took the outstretched hand, "I'll be better when this stupid meeting is over and I'm unemployed."

As she clamored into the backseat and settled herself, Frank climbed into the driver's seat. "I'm sorry, ma'am. My wife dealt with a lot of morning sickness when she was pregnant with our youngest. Hopefully for you it'll be past it soon."

Elizabeth's eyes shot up to meet her lead bodyguard's eyes in the rearview, surprise etched across the features of her face. Of course Frank had put it all together. He was with her almost as much as Henry. "How long have you known?" she asked once the initial wave of surprise had passed.

With a smirk on his face, Frank replied, "About three weeks ma'am. Ever since you had that sudden doctor's appointment at James Madison. Plus you've looked a little green around the gills a few times while we have been in the car."

"As always, Frank, you continue to surprise me." the Secretary replied. "Once I get this meeting with the President over with, everyone will know one way or another. Now to just pray that he doesn't fire me." Frank went to speak, but before he could, Elizabeth added, "And don't you go saying that he'll be happy for me blah blah blah. You'll just sound like my family."

"Well ma'am, I have seen the way you and President Dalton interact with each other. He cares for you deeply, and you him. I don't think that he will fire you. You do too much for him." Frank returned, shrugging his shoulders before he put the SUV in park. "We are here, ma'am."

Taking a deep breath to steal herself against the nerves that were threatening to overtake her, Elizabeth gathered her things and swung her legs out of the open car door. Thankfully, she was met with a cool breeze as she walked the short distance to the White House staff entrance. Though summers weren't unbearable in DC, the June heat was starting to get to her pregnant body.

Whether or not she wanted to admit it, she knew she was dragging her feet because the closer she drew to The Oval Office, the tighter her chest became. She had been managing her anxiety and PTSD well since having to stop taking her medication, but the doubts and stress of revealing her pregnancy to Conrad were threatening to push her over the edge. Lost in her thoughts about how Conrad might react, Elizabeth didn't even hear Lucy, the President's personal aide, greet her.

"Madam Secretary?" Lucy asked, a hint of worry in her voice. "Are you alright, ma'am? Can I get you anything before your meeting?"

Shaking herself from her stupor, she replied, "Oh, hi Lucy. I'm sorry. I am a little distracted this morning." Trying to smile, she continued, "A bottle of water would be wonderful, if you don't mind."

"Yes ma'am. He's ready for you. I'll bring your water in shortly." the younger woman replied, giving Elizabeth a warm smile.

Before turning to the door, she couldn't help but ask Lucy, "Russell Jackson isn't in there yet is he?"

With a sweet smirk on her face, Lucy replied, "No ma'am. Mr. Jackson is running late this morning, so he will be late."

"Oh, thank God," the Secretary whispered under her voice. "Thank you, Lucy."

Taking a deep breath as she turned, Elizabeth opened the door to the Oval Office. She paused for a split second, having never been so nervous to enter before. As she walked in, she noticed that Conrad's chair was empty as well his usual place on the couch at the center of the room. Looking over towards the ceiling to floor window that looked out over The Rose Garden, she saw her long time friend standing there, his head bowed.

Not wanting to disturb him but needing to get the moment over with as soon as possible, the woman cleared her throat and murmured, "Are you alright, Mr. President?"

Lifting his head, Conrad glanced in her direction before walking back to his desk, "I'm alright, Bess, but you look a little green around the gills. Everything alright?"

She took a deep breath, about to speak, when a sudden wave of nausea slammed into her with no warning. Scrambling towards the side door that led to Conrad's private study and bathroom, Elizabeth barely managed to step through said bathroom door before her stomach would remain quiet no longer. She stayed crouched next to the toilet until the heaving had subsided.

When she finally dared to stand again, she glanced at her reflection as she rinsed her mouth out at the sink. Though she was slightly paler than usual, her makeup was no worse for wear and had somehow managed to keep her clothes clean. She paused for a second, gathering her words before stepping back into the Oval Office. Clearing her throat, which was now on fire, she prayed that Lucy would bring that bottle of water sooner rather than later.

Now seated at his desk, Elizabeth could see the knowing smirk on the President's face. She could also see that he was desperately trying to hold his laughter in as she made her way over to his desk. She dropped herself into the straight back chair on his right; she was too tired to stand any longer, and it was only 9:45 in the morning.

"How far along are you, Bess?" Conrad asked, who was no longer attempting to hold in his deep chuckle. "I've watched you have three children. I know what morning sickness looks like on you."

"Sir…," Elizabeth started, tears already welling up in her eyes. Damn hormones, she thought to herself before continuing. "I promise this pregnancy will not hinder my ability to complete my duties as Secretary of State. I know I will have to reduce my stress level, but I know that I will still be able to do all the things you need me to do. This nation is…"

"Bess, you're babbling," the President interrupted, "which I assume is because in that crazy head of yours, you think that I'm going to fire you because you're pregnant, right?"

Ducking her eyes from her oldest friend's gaze, the woman sheepishly nodded her head. She couldn't bring herself to look at the man in front of her. Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks as she heard the wheels of Conrad's chair roll across the floor. Still looking down, she watched as strong, weathered hands wrapped themselves around hers. Finally lifting her eyes, she came face to face with Conrad's smiling face, and the tears she had been holding back began to fall.

Pulling her into a hug, Conrad whispered in her ear, "What's with the waterworks, Bess? I'm happy for you!"

Releasing the President and accepting the handkerchief that he had pulled from his pocket, Elizabeth dabbed her eyes, once again cursing the pregnancy hormones that seemed to be making her cry at the drop of a hat these days.

"Damn hormones." she gripped, making the President chuckle again. "I know it's irrational, but I truly did think that I would be out of a job once you found out. My job requires of a lot of hands on nurturing, and at some point I won't be able to make a transatlantic flight at the drop of a hat, which could harm US foreign relations. I didn't know how that would play out in your mind, but in mine, I knew it couldn't be good."

"Bess, we have been friends for more than twenty years. I am nothing but excited and happy for you. Extremely surprised but quite happy for you nonetheless. I would never dream of firing you just for being pregnant. For one because it's illegal; and for another, Russell would kill me for letting my approval rating take such a hit." Conrad laughed. "Hell, I knew you were pregnant with Jason, and I still let you go into the field. Pretty sure you can handle yourself."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Elizabeth passed the handkerchief back. She couldn't help but smile to herself as Henry's words over breakfast came back to her. There would be very large "I told you so's" from her family over dinner.

As this moment, Lucy quietly knocked on the door before she entered, carrying the bottle of water Elizabeth had requested. She appeared a bit startled to see that the older woman had been crying.

"Are you alright, Madam Secretary?" she asked, the note of worry in her voice made Elizabeth smile once again.

"I'm fine, Lucy. I promise. Nothing that about six more months won't cure." the Secretary joked.

A look of confusion passed Lucy's face, but after a second, she understood Elizabeth's meaning. A smile erupted on her face as she moved to embrace her. " Congratulations, ma'am! A new baby! How exciting! And a Christmas baby at that! Are your kids excited?"

Returning the hug, Elizabeth answered, "Oh they are excited alright. Now that the shock has worn off, they are all ready for the baby to be here, or at least know if it's a boy or a girl."

"Well that's just wonderful, ma'am. I'm so happy for you and your family." Lucy replied. Turning to Conrad, she asked, " Do you need anything right now, sir? I'm fixing to put a fresh pot of coffee on. Mr. Jackson should be here in about ten minutes."

"I'm all good, Luce. Thank you." the President replied, smiling at the young woman. "Although I think Bess might need some saltines before it's all said and done."

Feigning a look of disgust at her friend, Elizabeth nodded towards Lucy in agreement. "Crackers would be lovely, Lucy. Thank you."

Turning back towards the President as Lucy retreated from the room, Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh out loud. For the last three weeks, she had been stressing herself beyond measure, and now that it was all over, she couldn't believe that she had had so little faith in Conrad.

"What's so funny, Bess?" Conrad asked, as he walked over to his usual seat on the couch. "I can see the wheels in that head of yours turning."

Wiping her eyes one last time before standing to follow him to her own usual seat, Elizabeth handed the handkerchief back to the President as she answered, "Henry told me that I was being, well for lack of a better word, irrational to think that you would be nothing less than happy for me. Actually, if I am completely honest, all of my children were in your corner in regards to your reaction."

"Oh so you were the only one who didn't believe in me, huh?" Conrad chuckled once again. "Now I see what twenty plus years of friendship has gotten me."

"Oh hush, man. You know that I can't be trusted to think rationally about my own life when I'm stressed. Threat of nuclear warfare? I'm cool as a cucumber. Possible World War III with Russia? Just another day at the office. But losing control of my own affairs? Put me in a padded room because all of my common sense and problem solving skills fly right out the window, and I end of my driving myself mad." Elizabeth replied, an undertone of humor running through her words.

At that moment, Lucy reentered the Oval, carrying another bottle of water and saltines for Elizabeth. She was closely followed by Russell, who looked a little worse for wear so early in the morning.

"If you need anything else ma'am, just let me know." Lucy murmured to Elizabeth with a smile, as she handed her the saltines.

Nodding in a appreciation, the older woman returned the smile, as she nibbled on the end of one of the crackers. Now that her nerves were settled so was her stomach, but she was taking no chances of a repeat performance.

After a moment, she realized that quiet conversation Russell had been having with the President had stopped, and he was staring at her as if she had two heads. Smoothing her hair down with her free hand, Elizabeth waited for whatever offhand remark was sure to be falling out of Russell's mouth. While she had gotten used to the verbal tongue lashings he could give, she was in no mood to listen to him lecture her about the finer workings of her department this morning.

"So Carol was right. I guess I finally owe her that night out on the town." Russell said, after a long moment. "I can believe it though. Henry can never keep his eyes off you, Bess. A Christmas baby in the White House. It's about time there was good news around here."


	8. The Baby of It All

Chapter 8: The Baby of It All

Elizabeth began choking on the saltine she had just taken of bite of and the President had to pound on her back a few times before she was able to catch her breath. After taking a sip of water, she was finally able to respond, "How long have you known, or should I say Carol known? And why didn't you say anything to me sooner?"

"She knew something was up the night of the state dinner with Portugal two weeks ago. You weren't having your usual glass of white wine with dinner. She also noticed that you looked extremely nauseous when the fish course was served, and in her words, you looked more exhausted than a race horse after running the Kentucky Derby." Russell responded, pouring creamer in his coffee. "I told her that she was crazy. After the long, stressful week of putting the finishing touches on the state dinner plus keep all your other hats in the air, you had plenty of reason to look tired."

As she listened to the President's Chief of Staff continue, Elizabeth began to wonder just how well she had been keeping Bean a secret. She also began to wonder if her staff too had deduced that she was pregnant. Having once again been lost in her thoughts, she realized that Russell was still talking about Carol.

"After we saw you and Henry leave well before the dinner was over, Carol told me that she would bet me a night out if you turned out to be pregnant." Russell chuckled. "I guess now I have to pay up."

Conrad shook his head, chuckling and asked Russell, "What were you going to win had Bess turned out to just be tired?"

Russell sheepishly replied, "More than one cup of coffee a day for a week and one fried food of my choice for a week. I will say that even though I'm happy for you and Henry, I'm sad to see the prospect of extra coffee fly out the window."

Finally pulling herself from the depths of her mind, Elizabeth quipped a quick reply to Russell, "I don't know whether I should be more offended that you guys were betting on me or that Carol thinks that I look that tired."

At this, the President and Russell dissolved into laughter at their long time friend. "Well Bess, either way a new baby around here will definitely make everyone smile." Russell said once he had regained his composure. "Sort of like a Christmas present to the nation. I mean you are the most beloved Secretary of State since Thomas Jefferson himself so this will just give the people another reason to love you even more"

Before she could respond, Elizabeth felt her phone begin to buzz in her coat pocket. Pulling it out, she saw Blake's smiling face staring back at her. She quickly excused herself out into the garden beside the Oval to answer.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Madam Secretary, but we seem to have a China problem." Blake said before Elizabeth could even get out a hello.

"Well good morning to you too, Blake. What would this Chinese problem be?" the Secretary asked, praying that whatever the issue, it would be resolved quickly. She absent-mindedly began rubbing the top of her slight belly, finding the thought of the life growing inside of her calming.

"Well ma'am. It seems that a platoon of Chinese military have seized a US cargo ship at the Port of Shanghai because, and I quote, the captain does not have the proper paperwork in order to import goods into the country. Minister Chen has already called four times in the last hour…" Blake trailed off for a second. "Make that five times, ma'am. In his last call, he said that if this paperwork issue wasn't straightened out, the captain and his crew would be seeing the inside of a Chinese prison and all of the goods would be seized for use by the Chinese government."

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Elizabeth replied, "I'll be there as soon as I can. Let me wrap up things here with the President." Checking her watch, she added, "Send out a memo that I want to have a lunch meeting with all of my immediate staff. We will have food ordered in. I think it's about time we let the cat out of the bag, Blake."

"Yes ma'am." Blake replied, a hint of excitement in his voice. "I'll order chicken salad and the works. I know that has been sitting better on your stomach on the days when you've actually had time for lunch and been able to keep it down."

"Thank you, Blake. See you in twenty." Elizabeth answered. She really did have to start paying her assistant more. While she had hoped for a short day so she could go back to the warmth of her bed, husband, and a British Baking Championship marathon, that thought was quickly flying out the window.

As she hung up the phone, Elizabeth reentered the Oval office to find the President and Russell pouring over the documents that the Chief of Staff had brought with him. She cleared her throat to get both men's attention.

"Apparently we have a China problem. I have to get back to my office and return Minister Chen's call before his head explodes, and US citizens are thrown into a Chinese prison," the woman said as she swung her oversized purse that doubled as a briefcase onto her shoulder. "Hopefully this is just a misunderstanding because I don't think I can handle possible war with China this week."

Conrad got to his feet as Elizabeth gathered the rest of her things. "Keep me updated on the situation. I would prefer gaining our citizens' release through diplomatic channels instead of having to violate China's sovereignty, but I am willing to go that route if necessary." Helping Elizabeth into her jacket, he continued, "Please give my congratulations to Henry, the sly dog."

"Yes sir. I plan on calling Minister Chen back soon as I am in my office. I don't think I have it me to tango with that man this week, so violating a sovereign nation, who just happens to be one of our closest allies, is probably going to be the way to go." Elizabeth replied, the snark very clear in her voice. "And thank you, Conrad. You know this means you're going to be godfather to the newest McCord come Christmas, right? We can't break tradition now."

"I would love nothing more, Bess." Conrad replied as he walked Elizabeth to door. "You know that I would do anything for your children."

As she exited the Oval Office, the Secretary nodded at Lucy, who handed her another bottle of water for the road. Giving a smile of thanks in return, Elizabeth couldn't help but be eternally grateful for the woman's help.

Frank was waiting for her outside the office door and walked with her down the hall, once again her ever present shadow. Once they were outside, he quickly opened the car door, and Elizabeth threw herself inside out of the June heat, thanking God for the fact that her motorcade was kept running at all times.

"Can we take the long way back to my office, Frank? I am not prepared for what is waiting for me, and I just need a minute to gather my thoughts before I have to threaten Minister Chen and China's sovereignty." Elizabeth murmured as she laid her head back on the headrest, breathing deeply through her nose.

"Yes ma'am. With mid-morning traffic, it will take us about twenty minutes to get to your office." Frank replied. "I promise to watch the bumps too, ma'am."

Elizabeth smiled, as she saw Frank wink at her in the rearview. "Thank you. My stomach has already committed treason this morning." Seeing her lead security man's confusion, she explained, "I had to make use of the President's private bathroom almost as soon as I walked into the Oval thanks to morning sickness and our resident tiny traitor. Not my finest moment. Ironically, a similar situation happened when he was CIA director and I was pregnant with Jason."

Frank chuckled at the Secretary's memory. "And I bet that he was over the moon for you and Dr. McCord, wasn't he?" the man asked, a raised eyebrow already showed knowledge that his previous prediction about the President was correct.

"You were right, just like the rest of my family." Elizabeth whined. "Words I know you all are ecstatic to hear since it's everyone's mission in life to prove me wrong."

Huffing, the woman opened the extra bottle of water that Lucy had given and pulled her phone from her pocket to find she had a few unopened texts from not only Henry but Stevie as well. Each sent more reassurances and love. Stevie's also contained a number of emojis that made Elizabeth chuckle. While she didn't feel like she was living in the stone age, she just couldn't understand the enjoyment of putting so many cartoonish characters after every text message.

Looking up as she finished replying to Henry's text, she saw the State Department building slide into view, and the nervous bubbling of her stomach began once again. Truth be told, she was more nervous about telling her staff of her pregnancy than she was with dealing with Minister Chen. She and Chen had done the proverbial diplomatic tango before; she was sure she could handle anything the impish man thought up. The thought of breaking the news to her staff of their impending new addition was another matter entirely.

Stowing her phone back in her coat pocket, Elizabeth hoisted her bag onto her shoulder and braced herself for a wall of heat to hit her once Frank opened the door. Once her heels hit the sidewalk, she quickly speed walked into the building, praying that the AC was on full blast in her seventh floor office. The elevator ride was all too brief, and as the gilded doors slid open, Nadine, Matt, Daisy, Jay, and Blake slid into view. The latter already had an impish smile on his face, and thankfully a cup of coffee in his hand.

Graciously taking the coffee with a smile, Elizabeth braced herself for the morning, now almost afternoon, report from her chief of staff. The China situation seemed to one that would be easy to handle, US relations with Russia were strengthening everyday, and a minor outbreak of tuberculosis in Togo was being well contained thanks to an American NGO.

By the time the troops had reached the Secretary's office, the main list of important topics had been covered and discussed. Now it was Elizabeth's joyous task of speaking with Minister Chen about the American shipping vessel; a task that she had grown even less fond of completing the closer she got to her desk. She knew that Chen could be a reasonable, but at times, his posturing and grandstanding made her want to slap the man. His loquaciousness was something that she could do without this morning.

"Alright Blake, please get Minister Chen on SVCCTs. I would rather get this over with sooner rather than later." the blonde requested as she took a seat behind her desk and watched as the rest of her staff trailed out of her office. "If China wants to make a play for an American shipping vessel over a simple paperwork issue, then the US will definitely make it worth their time."

"Yes ma'am. Right away." Blake replied as he walked towards the door. "Do you need anything? I restocked your cupboard with saltines and water this morning."

Smiling at her ever thoughtful assistant, she shook her head. "I'm good. Lucy gave me some extra water before I left the White House. Thank you, Blake. For everything." she replied as she watched her ever helpful assistant retreat through the door.

Leaning back in her chair and kicking her heels off under her desk, she gently rested her hand on the swell of her belly. She secretly hoped that she would soon feel the butterfly wings under her belly button. With Stevie, Allison, and Jason, she began to feel the baby move around fourteen weeks, and she was now at fourteen weeks and three days. In the back of her mind, she prayed that she would feel the baby move sooner rather than later because it would calm the fears that she had about this baby and her age. She refused to voice her doubts aloud to Henry, but she knew that he had some idea of her thoughts because he had started telling her what sort of fruits and vegetables the baby was the size of to distract her from worrying herself to death.

She tried not to worry because up to this point, Dr. Miller said that everything was on schedule, but the worry still crept in. There was so much that could go wrong and did go wrong for many expectant moms her age. And Elizabeth definitely didn't want to become part of that statistic. She knew that she and Henry would be able to handle most of the possible genetic disorders that were related to her "advanced" age. The possibility of Down Syndrome didn't scare her in the least; she would love this child no matter what, but she also did not want to subject the new baby to the media scrutiny that her older children had already endured and would continue to endure as long as her job kept her in the public eye.

Just as her thoughts began to spiral into a whirlwind of anxiety, Blake buzzed into to tell her that Minister Chen was waiting on SVVCTs.

"Thank you, Blake. If you hear shouting, you might want to come in and stop me. I am not in the mood for games this morning." Elizabeth warned, praying that a reasonable agreement could be met quickly.

As she disconnected Blake's line, the Secretary hit a button on her computer's keyboard, bringing up the video link to Minister Chen. Before she could even say good morning, the Chinese foreign minister began his bluster.

"Madam Secretary, do not think that you are going to be able to strong arm your way into getting your shipping vessel and sailors released." the man whined. "They docked at the Port of Shanghai without the appropriate documentation and therefore are subject to the consequences of their illegal actions."

"Good morning to you too, Ming." Elizabeth snapped, trying to keep her temper in check. "So glad to see you are well this morning. I hope that the US sailors you are detaining are as well as you, this morning."

"Elizabeth, don't be coy. We have not treated your sailors harshly. They have been treated as any other American prisoner would be." the Chinese minister replied.

Determined to get to the issue at hand, Elizabeth adopted a more serious tone and countered, "That has yet to be proven from a US standpoint, but I digress. There is a more important matter at hand. What is the issue with the documentation that the ship's captain had exactly? It is my understanding that he had paperwork documenting and itemizing the cargo aboard the vessel as well as passports and documentation for all sailors aboard. Unless the procedures at the Port of Shanghai have changed, which would be information that should have been relayed to all of China's trading partners, I am at a loss as to why there is a problem at all."

Removing her glasses, the blonde leaned back in her chair; she knew that there was about to be a very wordy, long-winded response coming her way.

"There has not been a change in our procedures, but your captain's paperwork did not include all cargo on board the vessel." Minister Chen replied. "There were several produce and food items found on a routine search of the ship that were not listed on the manifest, and therefore the documentation does not meet the proper standards that we require."

"And where exactly were these non-documented food items found because if they were in the ship's galley or kitchen, then they are not in fact cargo but food for the crew. Therefore there is no need for them to be listed on the manifest because they would not be leaving the ship nor were they intended for trade or Chinese use." Elizabeth replied, staring down the man through her computer screen. She refused to have her entire day hijacked by a stupid show of power that had no legal standing. "I expect our citizens and vessel to be released by the end of the day, American time, or we will be forced to take forceable action."

"Secretary McCord, you cannot make demands of China in such a way. We are following legal procedure to the letter of the law." Chen stammered.

"Obviously not, Ming. If that were true, then you would have never detained the boat in the first place." Elizabeth chuckled, the idiocy of the entire situation amused her. "Again, the American citizens in your custody should be released by the end of business today, or our response will be swift. Thank you for your time."

Hanging up the call, Elizabeth hit Blake's line once again. "Blake, will you have everyone come to my office? We will move to the conference room for lunch afterwards."

"Yes ma'am. Give me five minutes to gather everyone." Blake replied before disconnecting the line.

Elizabeth, unable to control her nerves, stood up and began pacing the floor behind her desk. She had no idea how she was going to tell her staff about the newest McCord. While she knew that they would all be extremely happy for her and her family, she also knew that there would be many questions about her taking time off, international travel plans, and the media. The more she thought, the faster she paced. The sound of her bare feet against the carpet echoed off the walls of her office.

The outer door opened, catching her by surprise. The Secretary stepped forward to grip the back of her chair, praying that her nerves didn't cause her knees to give out. As her staff filed in, she couldn't help but laugh internally at the looks on their faces. Every single one of them looked as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. But since none of them had a clue of what they were about to be told, save Blake, Elizabeth could understand why they would be uneasy. For all they knew, the world was about to come to some sort of fiery end.

"Alright guys." Elizabeth chortled. "You don't have to look like the world is coming to an end. I promise that this meeting is a good one." Behind the fretful faces in front of her, the grin on Blake's face made him appear to be the cat who ate the canary, and she couldn't help but laugh aloud.

Turning to see what the Secretary was laughing about, Nadine caught sight of Blake's face. As she turned back around, the brunette asked, "Ma'am, does this have anything to do with you appearing to be ill over the last few weeks and you and Blake having secret meetings about your weekly schedule on Monday mornings?"

Not surprised by her ever shrewd chief of staff, the blonde nodded. "In fact it does, Nadine. Don't be too mad at Blake. He was sworn to secrecy on pain of death. Actually, Blake would you still like to do the honors?" Elizabeth asked, directing her attention to her assistant. The comedic turn of the situation had stymied her nerves and she was no longer worried about "letting the cat out of the bag."

As everyone turned to look at Blake, the Secretary continued, "I promised you that you could share the news when I asked you to keep all this quiet in the first place so the honor is yours if you still want it."

"The Secretary is getting us a baby for Christmas this year!" Blake exclaimed instead of answering the Secretary. The man was practically shaking with excitement while everyone else had dumbfounded looks on their faces.

Daisy whipped her head around back towards the Secretary. "You're having a baby? Ma'am, is this a joke?"

"Not at all, Daisy." Elizabeth answered. "There will be a baby in the State Department come December."

Daisy nodded, "I'm happy for you, ma'am. A new baby around here will definitely help boost morale. Everyone loves a cute baby. Plus I've seen baby pictures of your other children, so this one is pretty much guaranteed to be adorable."

"Congratulations ma'am. That's wonderful news." Nadine replied, a genuine smile on her face. "I assume that this baby wasn't planned?"

"Oh not at all! Henry was about as surprised as you all look right now. According to my doctor, there was about a five percent chance of me getting pregnant at all so this baby is something of a miracle." the woman answered.

As the Secretary finished, Matt stood up and gave Elizabeth an unexpected hug. Of all the members of her staff, Matt was definitely the most "touchy feely," and at this moment, she had no problem with that. "Congratulations, Madam Secretary." he said as he released her; a cheesy grin spread across his face.

"Well now Chloe will have a built in best friend." Jay spoke up, also embracing the Secretary. "Congratulations ma'am. If this baby is a girl, I am sure that Abby has boxes with tons of hand me downs that you are welcome to."

Squeezing Jay before releasing him, Elizabeth smiled. "We find out whether the newest McCord is a boy or a girl at our appointment on Thursday, but I have a feeling that Bean is a girl, and I was right about our other kids so I guess we will see."

"Not to put a damper on the happiness, ma'am, but how are we handling this from a press stand point?" Daisy asked. "What should I say if the gaggle catches wind of your pregnancy?"

"For now, the standard "no comment on the Secretary's personal life" bit. My children know. I broke the news to Conrad and Russell this morning, but we haven't told Henry's family." the Secretary answered.

Turning toward Blake, Elizabeth requested, "Speaking of informing people, Blake can you either inform Diplomatic Services or have someone come up to my office? Frank and Matt already know, but I am sure that DS will need to be informed in case I have to make any sort of trip, whether state-side or foreign."

"Yes ma'am. I will handle that right after lunch." Blake answered. "Also, I think that lunch has arrived and is in the conference room."

"I will handle the press, ma'am." Daisy said, reassuring her boss. "If there is so much of a whiff of your pregnancy, I will make sure to steer them clear and left you know immediately."

"Thank you, Daisy. At this point, it's not a huge issue if the press find out. I just don't want my in laws finding out on the six o'clock news." Elizabeth chuckled. "That would start World War III with Maureen, and I think China is enough to deal with right now."


	9. Hurrican Maureen

Chapter 9: Hurricane Maureen

"We have to tell your sister." Elizabeth declared as she fell back onto the bed. Her hands automatically landed on her belly; the leggings she had changed into when she got home showed off her well defined if still small baby bump. "We have to tell Maureen before word of the baby somehow leaks out in the press. The last thing that we need is for her to find out on the news because then I will never hear the end of it, and she gives me enough grief as it is. Plus we find out whether we are adding another son or daughter to our brood tomorrow. We are going to be able to keep Bean a secret much longer after that."

Henry, stepping out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist and water dripping from his hair, moved across the room to sit on the bed next his wife. "I know, and I dread it." the man groaned.

An odd look appeared on the blonde's face as she tried to stifle a laugh. "Do you remember when we told her we were pregnant with Stevie? Your parents who ecstatic, but Maureen automatically started with the ninth degree about where we were going to live and the fact that you had just gotten home from Desert Storm."

Pausing to push herself onto her elbows, Elizabeth continued, "And whenever she could get you alone, she would ask if you believed that the baby was yours. I thought your head was going to explode from all of her constant nagging."

"I didn't know you ever found out about her questioning your faithfulness to me." Henry murmured as he stood and made his way to the chest of drawers to get a pair of underwear. "I practically threatened Maureen that if she ever asked you if Stevie was truly mine, I would tell Dad who was really driving when the car ended up in the duck pond that summer when we kids."

He took a second before continuing to pull on his boxers and a pair of sweats. Making his way back across the room while running the towel through his hair, Henry wrapped his arms around his wife as he sat next to her. "You are right about telling her sooner rather than having her find out from anyone else. She was hell to live with when Mom told her you were pregnant with Jason instead of me. My dear sweet sister always feels the need to be in control."

Leaning her head back on the strong shoulder behind her, Elizabeth chuckled, "Erin told me what Maureen had asked about Stevie's paternity when you had gone to the hardware store with your dad the next day. All we could do was laugh because Erin knew as much as Shane and your parents that I couldn't nor would I have ever cheated on you. To this day, I still think she questions why Stevie has red hair."

"Well dear," Henry started, getting up to throw his wet towel across the hook on the bathroom door, "the best thing to do is just rip off the bandaid. You want to call her and give her the news or do you think that you might have the time to make a day trip up to see her?"

"Oh god. I don't think I could handle telling her in person. With my crazy hormones, I might actually punch her if she makes some snide comment about my age or questions Bean's paternity." the woman answered, flopping down onto the bed again. "Might as well call her and get it over with."

Henry returned to his seat beside her on the bed and grabbed his phone from his nightstand. Unlocking it, he scrolled through his contacts, found Maureen's number, and hit it. "It's now or never."

Maureen answered after two rings. "Well hello there brother. This is a surprise. You never call me unless you have bad news."

"Good to talk to you, Maureen. You're on speaker. Elizabeth is here as well." Henry returned.

"Hey, Maureen." Elizabeth piped up. "How are you?"

An exasperated sigh came from the other end of the call. "Oh, hello, Elizabeth. I'm just fine. Thank you. How are you?"

From Maureen's short, clipped tone, Elizabeth could tell that this conversation was not going to go any better than her conversation with Minister Chen earlier in the day.

"That's actually why we're calling, Maureen. We have some news that we wanted to share with you." Henry answered. "Come Christmas, you're going to have another niece or nephew."

A loud squawk came from the other end of the phone followed by a split second of silence before Maureen answered. "You have got to be kidding me, right? This is not happening. Why in the hell would you two try to get pregnant with three almost grown children, your "jobs," and everything else going on in your lives?!"

The snide tone when Maureen said jobs was not lost on her sister in law. Taking a deep breath through her nose, Elizabeth composed herself before replying. "We weren't trying to get pregnant, Maureen. This baby is the happiest of accidents."

Another laugh spilled through.

"You cannot be happy about this. A brand new baby at your age? You barely have time for Stevie, Allison, and Jason. Why in the world do you think it's a good idea to bring another child into your crazy world?" Maureen ranted.

Elizabeth could feel the rage boiling in her veins at her sister in law's horrendous words. While she wasn't wrong about their lives being slightly crazy, she felt that their family was perfect for them. They all worked together to keep things running, and there was always more than enough love to go around. Maureen's hurtful tirade was meant to do just that, hurt her feelings, and Elizabeth would be damned if she was going to let her sister in law that pleasure.

As if reading her mind, Henry placed a hand on her thigh and responded, "Maureen, we are extremely excited about this baby as are the kids and our extended family. We wanted to tell you before we told Erin and Shane, but since you clearly can't muster any semblance of congratulations, I'm going to say good night."

Before he had even press the end call button, Elizabeth wrapped her arms around her husband's naked shoulders and planted her lips on his . Gratitude poured from body as she deepened the kiss, thanking Henry for preventing his sister from continuing her rant as well as keeping her from saying something to Maureen that she would probably regret later.

Lifting Elizabeth from his lap, Henry turned over pressing her down onto the mattress. He ran his hands down her sides; goosebumps following as every touch set the blonde on fire.

Just as he reached the bottom of her shirt, Elizabeth ripped her mouth from his with a gasp. Her eyes grew wide, and tears began to well up.

Looking down at her, Henry frowned; she knew it was because he thought he might have hurt her, but she couldn't find her voice to reassure him that she was fine. Slowly she sat up, waiting for another flutter to make sure she that she wasn't going crazy. She only had to wait a few seconds and again came the light touch of butterfly wings just below her navel.

Tears were still streaming down her face as she softly pressed her lips to her husband's cheek. "I just felt our baby move, and for the first time in a month and a half, I feel like I can breathe again."


	10. McCords Stick Together

_Author's Note: First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone who has stuck through this story with me. Your feedback and positivity has greatly helped me improve my writing. Secondly, I want to apologize for the HUGE delay in publishing chapter 10. My grandmother fell ill over the summer and then passed away in September so I haven't had the mental faculties to write as I normally would. I hope that chapter 10 is worth the wait. I think it's one of my favorites so far. Please let me know what you think and if I should continue on with the McCord's journey to becoming a family of six. Much love, 3 Bek_

Chapter 10: McCords Stick Together

Staring at the ceiling, Elizabeth let out a sigh as she shifted under the weight of her husband's arm. For half the night, Henry had waited to see if he too could feel Bean's sporadic movement. Now the hand that had been resting on her bump was wrapped around her side, pulling her back flush against his bare chest. Turning her head to glance at the clock, she let out an internal groan at the fact that it was only 5:45. She didn't have to be up for another hour since she and Henry would be finding out whether her gut was right about Bean being a girl. After the initial joy of feeling their baby move the night before, the mother to be (...again) was full of tension, over analyzing what the ultrasound might show other than just the sex of their baby.

"I can hear the wheels in your head turning, Elizabeth," a grumble came from behind her. "What will be, will be." Henry shifted behind her, releasing her to rub the sleep from his eyes before he continued. "Are you still going to love this baby as much as our other children if he or she should have Down Syndrome or cerebral palsy? Would you change the way you treat them for the worse if this child doesn't fit into society's perfect little box?"

Rolling over to face her husband, the blonde laid a hand on his chest to feel the calming beat of his heart beneath her fingers. "You know that it wouldn't change a thing. This baby is mine and yours; the missing piece to our family that we didn't know was missing." She paused at the feeling of butterflies under her navel, splaying her free hand across the spanse of exposed skin. Tears welled up in her eyes as she once again felt the wonderful reality of her words. "Apparently Bean agrees. There is nothing about this child that will be less than perfect in my eyes no matter how cruel the world can be."

Elizabeth sat up in bed, tucking her feet beneath her. She looked over her shoulder back at Henry and took a deep breath before she kept going. "I think my biggest fear is just that: the fear that the world will be cruel to our child just because they could be different. Our kids already say I'm too much of a Mama Bear as it is. Can you imagine if our child has special needs and someone bullies them at school? We would have to move countries."

"I don't know that we would have to go to that extreme, but I see your point." Henry chuckled at his wife's commentary, stretching his legs out beside her and crossing his arms behind his head.. "But here's mine. You are the most dedicated, loving, supportive, hard working mother out there. I know you feel like your job gets in the way of that some times, but that's what I'm here for. This baby is lucky to have you as their mother, and I am pretty sure that the three down the hall would agree."

"I know you're right, but it doesn't mean that I can control my brain," the blonde sighed, falling back on the bed. "I can't just lay here. I have to do something or I am going to lose my mind."

Rolling over to face his wife, Henry reached out a hand and slowly pulled the hem of Elizabeth's shirt back up, uncovering her slightly swollen belly. His hands instantly covered her exposed skin, and he leaned forward to kiss her softly. "I can think of a few things that we could spend the next hour doing that would definitely take your mind off all your worries."

"While your distraction plan does in fact sound incredibly tempting, I want to get the all clear from Dr. Miller before we have sex," the blonde cackled at her husband's devilish grin as she gently smacked his shoulder and then covered his hands resting on her belly with hers. "That doesn't mean that I don't want you right now, because believe me Henry, I would jump your bones and spend all day in this bed with you if I could," she continued after she saw her husband's deflated reaction to her words. "I just want to make sure that everything is still going as planned and it's safe for us to be together."

Resting his forehead against his wife's, Henry replied, "I know and I totally agree. I just want to help you relax because all this worry isn't good for you or our baby girl."

Throwing back the covers, Elizabeth swung her legs over the side of the bed, sliding her feet into her well-worn slippers. She made her way across their bedroom to her dresser, opened a drawer and pulled out her most comfortable leggings as she turned back to Henry, "I wonder if we get to Dr. Miller's office early, would she be able to take us before our appointment time?"

"Well I think that we are her first appointment of the day so I guess there's only one way to find out." Henry answered, also rising from their bed, pulling the jeans he had worn the day before back on. "I'll go down and make some breakfast before the kids get up." While walking to the door, pulling his shirt on over his head, Henry turned back to his wife, "Do you want your usual toast and jam this morning, or do you think your stomach might be able to handle some eggs?"

The mention of the word eggs made Elizabeth's stomach tighten. She looked up at Henry as she finished clipping her bra in the back, "Let's just stick with the toast. After yesterday's fiasco in Conrad's office, I would prefer not to blow chunks across the doctor's office this morning." The look on Henry's face was one of sheer amazement, but the blonde couldn't figure out what he was looking at.

"Earth to Henry. Hello?!" she said, snapping her fingers in attempts to get his attention.

Shaking himself from his stupor, Henry laughed aloud. "Babe, you look pregnant. Like 'my gorgeous wife is pregnant with my child' pregnant. And just looking at you, realizing that we made the life growing inside you together, it just puts me in awe of how truly amazing you are."

Clad only in her bra and leggings, Elizabeth took three long strides across their room, wrapped her arms around her husband's neck, tangled her fingers in the curls at the base of his neck, and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. She swiped her tongue across his bottom lip demanding access. Once given, she explored his mouth, pressing her chest and belly against his, all the while relishing the closeness between them.

When she had no oxygen left, she pulled back and looked into his eyes, internally laughing at the look of surprise and hunger staring back. Her chest was heaving as she tried to catch her breath, but she managed to gasp out, "How am I not the luckiest woman alive to have a husband who says such things to me when I feel anything but beautiful? Now go. Make breakfast before I change my mind and drag you back to bed."

Shaking his head, Henry gave his wife a soft kiss on the lips before turning to head downstairs. "She better give us the all clear because if not, it's going to be a long five months sleeping on the couch," he said, pausing in the doorway. "Lord knows that I'm not going to be able to keep my hands to myself for much longer."

"Dad! That's just gross," a sleepily eyed Jason griped, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he walked to the bathroom. "I mean I know where babies come from and all, but I really don't need to hear about how Bean happened before seven in the morning."

* * *

An hour later, after breakfast had been cooked, consumed, and cleaned up, nerves had Elizabeth placing the floor outside the master bedroom. Deep in thought, overwhelmed by the fears Henry had attempted to quell earlier, the blonde didn't notice Stevie as she climbed the stairs behind her. While her mother didn't see her, the oldest McCord child could see that unless pulled from her thoughts, her mother was going to spiral into a panic attack, which was the last thing she needed this morning.

"Mom," Stevie murmured softly, "Are you alright?"

Startled from her thoughts and hearing the concern in her eldest daughter's voice, Elizabeth paused in her steps as she turned to face one of her life's greatest accomplishments. "Oh Stevie, I'm alright. Just a little anxious about Bean's appointment this morning. That's all." Her hands came up to cover the swell of her belly, as if to protect the growing child beneath.

"What are you anxious about? That she might have Down's or some other genetic anomaly?" Stevie asked, pulling one of her mother's hands into hers. "Will that change how much you love her? Would you love her any less if she isn't perfect by the world's standards?"

Cocking her head to one side, Elizabeth couldn't help but chuckle at her daughter's words. "You sound just like your father earlier. He actually asked me almost the exact same thing before breakfast," the blonde replied, squeezing the fingers intertwined in hers. "And to answer your question: no, it wouldn't change a thing. This baby is a miracle, and I am thankful for the chance to raise another child with your father."

She released Stevie's hand and opened the door to the master bedroom, pausing for a second as her daughter trailed behind her. As she searched for the right words that explain what she was feeling, the mother of soon-to-be four began tidying the bed, trying to keep her hands busy. She knew without a doubt that she was ecstatic about bringing another life into the McCord family, but she also knew that she was terrified of raising this brand new life in their ever-changing, dangerous world. Everyday when her family left the house to go their separate ways, DS agents in tow, she couldn't help but fear all the "what ifs" that could happen while they were apart. How much worse would those fears grow once she was having to leave her infant daughter to go negotiate world peace halfway around the globe?

"Mom? Mom!" Stevie said, slight louder the second time. "You zoned out on me. Please tell me what's going through your head. I want to help. Plus I think if you fluff Dad's pillow anymore, he's going to need a new one," she joked, saving said pillow from its impending demise.

Chuckling at her daughter's words, Elizabeth sat down on the edge of the bed, patting the space next to her for Stevie to sit as well. "I worry. Not so much about if she'll have Downs or CP or anything else really. As long as she's healthy, I know that she will be perfect in my eyes. My worry for her is the same worry that I have for you and your brother and sister, for your father, for my staff, for everyone I care about: how will she ever be safe in this world? Between Russia, Iran, and all the other countries that I attempt to keep the peace with everyday, there are very few moments where I don't worry about something happening." She paused to take a cleansing breath, realizing that she was working herself up again. "I know that I will never be able to keep her 100% safe, just like I can't for everyone else in our lives, but I do worry even though I try not to, and the closer her due date gets, the more the worry grows."

"And no matter what may happen tomorrow, a year from now, or twenty years from now, we will get through it as a family. Just as we always have." Henry said, leaning against the doorframe to their bedroom. "McCords stick together. That's what we've always said, and now is no different. None of us can control what goes on outside these walls, but inside? Here, in our home, we will get through it together and always work it out. Everything will be as God plans it."

Rising from her spot on the bed, Stevie walked past her father, patting him on the shoulder as she went. "Great timing, Dad. I don't know how much longer she would have last without losing it."

Henry kissed his daughter's brow and replied, "I know. Thank you for taking care of her for me."

Once Stevie had walked down the hall, Henry moved towards his wife, claiming the vacant seat on the bed the red-head had left. Elizabeth immediately wrapped her arms around his shoulders, curling into his side as if it were a place of refuge from a storm. SHe took a deep breath, taking in the scent that could only be Henry and allowed herself to release some of the tension that had her shoulders in a vice.

Henry allowed her to rest there for a few moments, feeling her breathing even out and her body relax into his before he spoke. "Beth," a nickname that only he was allowed to use fell from his lips. "Why did you hold all that in for so long? I know that you have been worrying, but this has taken it to a whole new level."

Shifting so that her head lay in the crook of his neck, Elizabeth took a deep breath and blew it out before she answered. "I don't know. Honestly, most of the time those fears lay in the back of my mind, rarely thought about but with everything going on with China and Bean's appointment, it has just been a little too real this morning. I know that none of us can control what happens in the world as a whole, but I just want Bean to see the good in the world; only said good seems to be quickly disappearing."

Henry nodded his head before pulling from his wife's embrace to look into her steely blue eyes, all of her raw emotions staring back at him. "I know. I think the same things everyday, but you know something? She won't have to look too far to find the good because you'll be right here. And Conrad, your staff, Stevie, Ali, and Jace. You all are some of the best "good" this world has. She will be surrounded by good everyday of her life."

"You forgot someone on your list, Dr. McCord," Elizabeth whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

"Oh, I did? And who did I leave off, Madam Secretary?" the man questioned, chuckling as he once again wrapped his arms around his wife.

"You." the blonde responded. "You are the best "good" that will ever be in her life. You are the best husband and partner I could have ever asked for. You are the best father to our children. You work tirelessly and selflessly for our country. You are an amazing human being. Thank you for reminding me just how lucky we are to have you in our corner."

She took the hand that had been resting on her hip and placed it on her belly. "And I think that someone else agrees that you daddy is basically a superhero," Elizabeth chuckled, praying that the man sitting next to her would be able to feel the thrum of movement just beneath her navel.

After a split second, she felt Henry's palm tense as his head snapped down to look at her. "Is that?" he murmured, not wanting to speak any louder for fear the movement would stop.

"It is," Elizabeth replied, laying a hand on top of his. A tear fell down her cheek as she watched her husband's eyes fill with tears and a thousand watt smile spread across his face. "She's real, babe. Our daughter is in there."

Scooping her up in his arms, it was now Henry's turn to bury his face in the crook of his wife's neck, running his hands up and down her back. She could feel the cool trickle of his tears running down her collarbone and his uneven breath upon her shoulder.

She squeezed his shoulders before releasing him from their embrace and said, "Let's go see our girl, Dr. McCord


	11. Chapter11: It’s A

The thirty minute ride to James Madison felt more like thirty years as Elizabeth sat restlessly in the backseat of her motorcade, Henry's hand firmly clutched in her own. After their conversation and Henry finally feeling their baby move, the only nerves that she felt were those of excitement over seeing her and hearing the sweet lub-dub of her heartbeat again. The parents-to-be had practically worn a hole in the dvd Dr. Miller had given them at their last appointment, playing it repeatedly just to hear that sweet sound and watch Bean's sporadic movements.

"You know," Henry said, slipping his hand from his wife's to brush a stray hair from her forehead, "we can't call her Bean for the rest of life. I think that would look a little funny on school paperwork."

Elizabeth, who continued gazing out the window as she reclaimed the withdrawn hand, replied, "I know. I've thought about a few names but I didn't want to say them out loud in case my intuition was wrong this time."

Henry couldn't help but chuckle as he countered his wife's theory. "Babe, your intuition was spot on with the first three. Why would McCord number four be any different?" Placing a hand softly over his wife's belly, once again feeling the faint stirrings of their child growing beneath, he continued, "Plus we can always come up with a boy name if necessary."

Elizabeth was about to quip back about gender neutral names when her phone started buzzing from its resting place in her sweater pocket. Once again releasing Henry's hand to retrieve the offending device, the Secretary grumbled, "And my work is never done," before answering the waiting call from her chief of staff. "Good morning, Nadine."

"Good morning, Madam Secretary," the older woman responded on the other end of the line. "I know you have your appointment with Dr. Miller this morning, I just wanted to let you know that the American cargo ship that had been detained at the Port of Shanghai has been released and is headed for open waters. Captain and crew are all accounted for and in good health."

Rubbing the bridge of her nose where a growing amount of tension had begun to build, the Secretary replied, "Thanks for the update. I was hoping that they would be released without having to call Minister Chen two days in a row. I'm not sure my sanity could take it."

A hearty chuckle came through the line, "Yes ma'am. Minister Chen can be very trying to say the least," Nadine paused. Elizabeth could hear the shuffle of paper on the other end of the phone before the older woman continued. "Will you be coming into the office once your appointment is over, ma'am? Russell Jackson has requested a meeting. Something about dinner and losing a bet? He wouldn't tell me anymore than that."

"I should be in by 10, but if Russell has already called for me this morning, I'll just stop by the White House after dropping Henry off at the War College," Elizabeth answering, laughing to herself over Russell as well as the quizzical look on her husband's face, as Frank pulled into the private entrance of James Madison Military Hospital. "Nadine, we just pulled into the hospital for my appointment. Text me if the world is going to implode, otherwise I will see you when I get to the office later this morning."

Her chief of staff cleared her throat and replied, "Yes, ma'am. I hope everything goes well with your ultrasound. We are all excited to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl."

"It's a girl!" Henry interjected as Frank came around to open Elizabeth's door.

"I'll speak with you soon, Nadine," the Secretary said as she swung her feet out of the car. Shaking her head as her husband, she walked around the Tahoe, immediately taking his outstretched hand as he came into view. "I do hope that I'm right again this time. I kind of like having the girls outnumber the boys in our house."

Henry feigned a look of disapproval at his wife's words, retorting, "You just like the fact that you and the girls have me wrapped around your fingers."

Now it was Elizabeth's turn to feign the disapproving look. "I know no such thing," she argued, taking a step toward the waiting automatic door. "And even if I did, do you actually think that I or our girls would use that knowledge to our advantage?"

This time Henry actually laughed aloud at his wife's question. "Baby, I know you would, and honestly over the last twenty some odd years, I can't say I have ever minded. Now, let's go prove you right again because we still have to pick out a certain little girl's name."

Ten minutes later, Elizabeth found herself once again in one of those infernal paper "robes", uncomfortable and extremely impatient.

"I still say that there are more comfortable options for "clothing" at a doctor's exam than this thing," the pregnant woman said with disdain. She huffed as she laid back on the raised table, twisting the sheet the nurse had given her that was covering her lap. "Don't you dare say a word about the view either, Henry McCord. Your lustful eye is what got us into the mess in the first place."

"If I remember correctly, it takes two to tango, babe. And I don't recall a time in the recent past when either of us weren't both ready and willing," the accused man jokingly scoffed as he pulled one of his wife's hands from the twisted sheet in front of her to intertwine his fingers in hers. "Plus I couldn't be happier about having another baby with you. As unexpected as all this may be, our life together has never been boring, so why should we start now?"

Chuckling as her husband's words, she couldn't help but shake her head in agreement. "Boring certainly isn't in the McCord family vocabulary. But you're right, I am already in love with this baby and wouldn't want to change a thing even if I could."

At this, Henry leaned over and captured his wife's lips, fusing them to his. Almost simultaneously, Elizabeth's fingers were entangled in the short curls at the base of her husband's skull, softly scratching this tender spot on his scalp, illisiting a soft growl to erupt from Henry's throat.

So enamored by each other and their passionate kiss, neither McCord heard the door to the exam room open until Dr. Miller cleared her throat. Instantly the husband and wife sprang apart; both with lips swollen from their brief makeout session and cheeks tinged pink from the embarrassment of being caught making out like a couple of horny teenagers.

"Good morning, Dr. Miller," Elizabeth stuttered, her voice full of surprise and a faint hint of panic, as she sat up, her back almost rigid, trying to contain her embarrassment.

"A good morning indeed, Madam Secretary," the doctor chuckled, the humor evident in her voice. "I'm guessing your morning sickness has abated?"

Still attempting to calm her racing heart, the older woman turned to look at Henry, who gave a noncommittal shrug, before answering. "It has for the most part. It comes and goes, but the coming often has a vengeance. Just yesterday, I almost threw up in the Oval in front of POTUS. It was hilarious."

The Secretary's dry wit was not lost on her doctor, as she flipped through the papers on her clipboard. "Well your vitals are great," she returned. "Your blood pressure is in a much more acceptable range today compared to your last appointment. Have you had any other problems aside from the morning sickness?"

The soon-to-be mother of four shook her head, "No ma'am. Everything has been great. Truthly, this pregnancy has been much easier than my pregnancy with Jason, and I was sixteen years younger then."

Henry laughed at his wife's response. "I'll agree with that. When she was pregnant with Jace, the smell of almost any food had her running to the bathroom, and she never slept. With this baby, the only food we can't cook while she is at home is fish. And she sleeps like I've never seen her sleep before," he matter-of-factly stated, once again intertwining his fingers with his wife's, unable to contain the enormous smile on his face.

After scribbling a few notes on Elizabeth's chart, Dr. Miller placed the chart on the counter and grabbed the ultrasound cart. "Everything sounds as if it's going great, so let's get down to what you both really came for: seeing your baby. Do you still want to know the baby's sex?"

Without even looking at each other, both parents answered, "Yes!" without hesitation.

As Elizabeth shifted to expose her swollen belly, Dr. Miller said, "Alrighty then. Let's see this baby."

She squeezed a small amount of gel on the blonde's lower abdomen, the chill causing the woman to jump. Using the ultrasound wand to spread the gel, the doctor turned the screen toward the McCords as their baby came into view. Hitting a button, the soft but strong lub-dub of the baby's heartbeat filled the room.

Instantly, Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears as she watched the small arms and legs of their baby stretch, feeling the movement through her own skin. The rapid thrum of the baby's heartbeat was music to the expectant mother's ears. All of her worries and fears that had held her captive earlier in the morning faded away; of course her subconscious still knew that the chances of their child having Downs didn't disappear. That reality would be something that they would have to face as a family though. In this moment, all Elizabeth could be was thankful for the life growing inside her.

Though mesmerized by the sight before her, the woman tore her eyes away from the screen to look at her husband's face. His eyes were transfixed on the screen, and she could see tears of joy streaming down his face. Slowly, she reached up to gently wipe his tears, and then cupped his cheek, drawing his eyes and attention down to her face.

"Henry McCord, I love you so much," came out in a barely audible whisper as she stroked his cheek.

Her husband, who was a man rarely at a loss for words, simply nodded his head as he leaned into the small hand on his cheek. She watched as he briefly closed his eyes; tears again trailing from beneath his lowered lashes. When he opened his eyes, once more they were trained on the screen just above Elizabeth's head.

Dr. Miller, having given the couple a moment to enjoy their happiness together, finally spoke, "Baby's heartbeat is still nice and strong. Her heart rate is right where we want it to be."

At the word "her", Elizabeth snapped her eyes from the screen to look at her doctor. She felt her breath catch in her chest, having to pause before she could finally speak. "Her? You said her heart rate. Does that mean that this baby is a girl?"

Nodding, Dr. Miller shifted the wand so the ultrasound showed a better few of the baby's legs and feet. She pointed at the screen as she replied, "Yes ma'am, Madam Secretary. Dr. McCord and Jason are still going to be outnumbered by the women in their lives."

"A girl," she murmured, more to herself than either of the others in the room. Her intuition has been right again, and she could not put into words how happy she was to be having another baby girl. While she wouldn't have been disappointed with another little boy running around their house, she had to admit that the relationships that she shared with her daughters were something that she had and would always cherish.

The feeling of her husband's lips grazing her temple pulled her from her thoughts. She glanced up at Henry's face floating above hers, a soft smile playing across his lips, before she turned her attention back to the screen. The sight of their baby moving and squirming still took her breath away.

"Alright, McCords. Everything looks great. Her measurements are right on schedule and as we heard, her heart rate is wonderful. I don't see any cause for concern right now." Dr. Miller said, as she replaced the ultrasound wand and handed Elizabeth some tissues to clean off her belly. "Keep doing what you're doing. Before you leave, make sure you schedule your glucose test. I know they are gross, but they are a necessary evil. Any questions?" she asked as she handed the older woman print outs of the baby.

Before Elizabeth could open her mouth, Henry inquired, "Are we clear to be together?" Clearing his throat, he clarified, "It won't hurt the baby if we have sex right, Doc?" The pink tinge from earlier reappearing across his cheeks, as he was a little more specific with his question.

Dr. Miller chortled at the father of three and a half's question, while the mother of said children stared daggers at the side of her husband's head since he would not meet her eyes. Nodding her head as she saw the Secretary of State roll her eyes out of the corner of her own, the younger woman answered, "No, Dr. McCord, intercourse won't hurt the baby. Just take it easy." She directed the next part of her answer to Elizabeth. "If anything begins to feel uncomfortable or hurts, stop. You and the baby will be safe enough to resume sexual activity, but you should still be cautious."

The older woman nodded her head at the doctor's instructions. "Thank you, Dr. Miller. I most definitely will. Now, I think I just might kill my husband for acting like the horny teenager he has apparently become."

Again the doctor chuckled at her patient's comment but had a rebuttal of her own. "Excuse me for saying this ma'am, but you both seemed caught up in your hormones when I came in earlier." Seeing the Secretary's eyes widen at her observation, she quickly added, "But I am sure you would have found a more tactful way to broach the subject."

The older woman grunted as she scowled at her doctor and her husband, as the latter was now laughing at Dr. Miller's statement. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all know that Henry and I can't keep our hands off each other. Thus the reason McCord number four is on the way."

All three adults proceeded to dissolved into laughter as Dr. Miller gathered her clipboard. Turning to address the couple, she said, "I hope that my wife and I are still half as crazy about each other as you two are after twenty-five years of marriage. You two make me believe that true love is actually real." Reaching out to shake each McCord's hand, she continued, "I'll see you in four weeks for your next check up. Don't forget to schedule that glucose test too."

As the doctor pulled the door closed behind her, Elizabeth began to redress, her mind still processing the reality that they were in fact having a girl just as she thought. Once she pulled her leggings back on and donned her sweater, she turned to her now staring husband and said, "Alright, Captain, let's go tell our awaiting troops the news!"


End file.
